Story of the Week

WHP Global to pay $300M for controlling stake in Lands’ End

On January 26, Lands’ End and WHP Global announced that they are forming a joint venture, with the brand management firm paying $300 million in cash to acquire a 50% controlling stake in the apparel brand. The brand, in turn, will transfer all of its intellectual property and related assets, including its licensing business, and will continue to manage its direct-to-consumer and business-to-business operations. Lands’ End, which struggled for years and is in the midst of a turnaround, plans to use proceeds from the sale to pay off an outstanding term loan of about $234 million, “and for general corporate purposes.” Those purposes include paying royalties to license its own brand; the agreement includes annual minimum royalty payments, starting at $50 million in the first year, according to the release.

Apparel & Footwear

Francesca’s to permanently close

Fashion retailer Francesca’s plans to permanently cease operations following a “periodic progression” of store closures and layoffs that began last week, per a Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act document filed in Texas. The closure of the retailer’s corporate home base in Houston, Texas, will impact 202 employees on a rolling basis, according to the notice dated Jan 14 and signed by Chief Stores and Culture Officer Christine Kaighn. Francesca’s operates over 450 stores across 45 states, according to its website. Two locations Retail Dive visited in the past week—one in Maryland and one in Maine—had storewide sale signs posted.

Allbirds to Close Remaining Full-price U.S. Stores

A challenged Allbirds Inc. is making another move to boost profitability. The lifestyle footwear brand will close its remaining full-price stores in the U.S. by the end of February. The closures will allow Allbirds to focus on its e-commerce platform, wholesale, and international distributorships. These are the three components of the business that the company said “offer greater reach, flexibility, and operating leverage.” Following the closures, Allbirds will still operate two outlet stores in the U.S. and two full-price doors in London, which the company said will preserve “key brand touchpoints while prioritizing capital-efficient growth.”

Eddie Bauer Said to Be Preparing Bankruptcy Filing

Add Eddie Bauer to the list of companies preparing to exit the brick-and-mortar business. Sources said the outdoor specialty store chain is prepping a Chapter 11 filing to shutter its approximately 200 North American stores. The Eddie Bauer store operations are owned by Catalyst Brands under license from brand owner Authentic Brands Group. That would mean that the larger Catalyst Brands company would not be impacted. Catalyst Brands was formed last year by Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., Authentic Brands Group, and Shein. It consists of Lucky Brand, Aéropostale, Nautica, Brooks Brothers, and JCPenney, as well as Eddie Bauer.

Deckers Racks Up Record Revenue in Q3 as ‘Significant Global Demand’ for Ugg and Hoka Continues

Shares for Deckers Brands soared over 10 percent on January 29th after market close following the footwear company’s latest earnings report. The Goleta, CA-based company reported that net sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 increased 7.1 percent to $1.96 billion, compared with $1.83 billion at the same time last year. Net income for the third quarter was $481.15 million, or $3.33 per diluted share, up from $456.73 million, or $3.00 per diluted share, in the prior year. These results beat analysts’ expectations, which called for net sales in Q3 to be in the range of $1.85 billion to $1.9 billion, with diluted earnings per share expected to be in the range of $2.67 to $2.88, according to Yahoo Finance.

Athletic & Sporting Goods

China’s Anta buys $1.8 billion Puma stake from Pinault family, rules out takeover

China’s biggest sportswear brand Anta Sports Products has struck ​a deal to buy a 29.06% stake in Puma from the Pinault family for 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion), making it the biggest shareholder ‌in the German sportswear maker.  Anta said it would use its expertise to help struggling Puma increase its sales in the lucrative Chinese market. The deal also helps Fila owner and Salomon backer Anta in its quest to become a more global business.  Pinault family investment vehicle Artemis, which also controls Paris-listed luxury conglomerate Kering, will sell its stake to the $27.8 billion Hong Kong-listed sportswear company for 35 euros per share in cash.  The deal will help Artemis reduce its debt load, a spokesperson for the company said.

CVC’s New Sports Business Buys Into $300M Equestrian Company

The newly established sports division of private-equity giant CVC Capital Partners has made its first acquisition with the purchase of a controlling stake in Equine Network, in a deal that values the competitive horse sports organization at $300 million.  Global Sport Group—a dedicated sports business that Luxembourg-based CVC launched in September—is buying Equine Network from Chicago-headquartered PE firm Growth Catalyst Partners. The deal values Equine Network at $300 million, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to Front Office Sports. Equine Network owns and operates about 40 competitions, including the World Series of Team Roping and National Team Roping, which is a rodeo event where two riders work together to catch a steer and bring it to a halt. The company also oversees more than 800 “third-party events.”

Rad Power Bikes reaches deal to sell itself for $13.2M

Electric bike company Rad Power Bikes has reached a deal to sell itself to a company called Life Electric Vehicles Holdings (or Life EV) for around $13.2 million, a little more than a month after entering the bankruptcy process.  Florida-based Life EV bills itself as a “developer, manufacturer, and distributor in the light electric vehicle industry.” It offers a number of electric bikes for sale on its website, although most of them were labeled as “sold out” at the time this article was published.  A filing to the bankruptcy docket over the weekend shows that five entities participated in an auction on the Rad Power assets on January 22. The first bid came in at $8 million, and parties traded bids until Life Electric Vehicles came away as the winner. When accounting for Rad Power’s liabilities, the total value of the bid is $14.9 million.

NCAA Approves Commercial Patches for Uniforms, Equipment and Apparel at D1 Level

The NCAA approved a proposal that will allow Division I sports programs to place additional commercial logos or patches on uniforms, equipment and apparel for any non-NCAA championship competition, including the regular season.  Effective August 1, all Division I teams will be permitted up to two additional commercial logos on their uniforms and apparel and one additional commercial logo on equipment during the preseason and regular season, with an additional commercial logo on uniforms and apparel for conference championships. The patches will be limited to a maximum of four square inches per logo.

Cosmetics & Pharmacy

Gryphon Investors-Backed Metagenics Acquires Probiotic Brand Symprove

Metagenics, the #1 doctor-recommended professional supplement brand, announced it has acquired Symprove, a UK-based probiotic brand, from bd-capital. Symprove is the UK’s number one probiotic and the brand most recommended by healthcare practitioners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Concurrently with this transaction, Metagenics and its sponsor, Gryphon Investors, announced that it completed a strategic debt recapitalization to provide Metagenics with ample capital to continue investing in organic and M&A growth opportunities. Ryan Fagan, Deal Partner in Gryphon’s Consumer Group, said, “We have never been more excited for the future of Metagenics. Symprove’s differentiated product is highly strategic for Metagenics’s portfolio of practitioner-recommended supplements.

Boots CEO Ornella Barra steps down after nearly a decade at the helm

Boots Chief Executive Officer Ornella Barra is stepping down from her role after leading the British health and beauty retailer for almost ten years. Barra will transition to Chair of the Board, replacing Stefano Pessina, and will take oversight of the company’s ESG agenda. Pessina, a major shareholder, will remain on the board following the separation of Boots from Walgreens Boots Alliance, which was acquired by Sycamore Partners in a US$10 billion deal last year. Since the transaction, Boots has been operating as a private, UK-headquartered business. The Boots Group now encompasses pharmacy-led health and beauty operations globally, as well as a pharmaceutical wholesale business in Germany. Anthony Hemmerdinger, currently Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the UK, Ireland, and Opticians, will assume expanded responsibilities, including oversight of No7 Beauty and group-level functions.

Pat McGrath Cosmetics files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US

Pat McGrath Cosmetics has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States as it seeks to restructure its business and address liquidity pressures. The filing was made on January 22, 2026, in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. The move halts an auction process initiated by the Company’s secured lender and allows the business to pursue a court-supervised reorganization of its capital structure. Pat McGrath Cosmetics said it will use Chapter 11 to simplify its balance sheet, reduce debt, and evaluate strategic options, which may include new investment, financial restructuring, a sale of the company, or a combination of these outcomes. The Company confirmed it will continue to operate in the ordinary course of business, with management remaining in place and employees, vendors, and partners to be paid as usual.

AS Beauty shuts down Mally Beauty, CoverFX

New York-based AS Beauty is shutting down Mally Beauty and CoverFX. The makeup brands announced their respective closures via Instagram on Jan 22, with the @mallybeauty and @coverfx accounts uploading similar posts stating that, “as the beauty industry faces new challenges — from tariffs to market shifts —  we’ve made the heartfelt decision to wind down the…business.” According to Mally’s statement, the brand’s products will remain available for purchase via Amazon and online at QVC while supplies last. CoverFX products, meanwhile, will be available direct-to-consumer and on Amazon while supplies last. AS Beauty’s other brands, which include Julep, Laura Geller, and Bliss, will continue to operate, though a Julep closure may soon follow, given that in December 2025, AS Beauty cofounder Joey Shamah hinted to WWD that CoverFX, Mally, and Julep all could be “sunsetted over the next year.”

Discounters & Department Stores

Simon Property Group flags $100M Saks Global investment in rent dispute

Another investment in retail by real estate investment trust Simon Property Group is faltering. Despite checkered results from a decade or so of pouring money into retailers, Simon made a $100 million investment into Saks Global in late 2024, as the luxury department store company worked to acquire Neiman Marcus Group. That $2.7 billion deal was inked in December that year, but — after a tumultuous 2025 marked by financial struggles, souring vendor relationships and market share losses — Saks Global filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Simon Property Group is asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to recognize its termination of the leases for more than $7 million in unpaid rent, based on letters sent to Saks Global.

Target to open seven stores in March

Target Corp. continues to expand its footprint — including its smaller-store format. The discounter is opening seven stores in March. The new outposts are part of the 30-plus stores that Target plans to open this year — and the more than 300 new stores the company is on track to build by 2035. Target’s March openings include a 40,000-sq.-ft. store in Jersey City, N.J. The retailer’s small-format concept is designed to serve commuters, with locations near public transportation, early opening hours, amenities, and convenient fulfillment services. The six other Target stores opening in March feature the company’s larger format and average 148,00 sq. ft.

Emerging Consumer Companies

Oats Overnight raises $45 million to support expansion

Astō Consumer Partners, the investment firm led by industry veterans Clayton Christopher and Brian Goldberg, has made a $45 million growth equity investment in US breakfast brand Oats Overnight. With the investment, Christopher and Goldberg say they are betting on subscription-led consumption and disciplined retail expansion in an increasingly crowded better-for-you market. Oats Overnight, which sells flavored oat-based breakfast shakes, surpassed $200 million in revenue in 2025, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has reached more than 2 million consumers, supports over 300,000 active monthly direct-to-consumer subscribers and is now stocked in more than 12,000 retail locations nationwide.

Running brand Tracksmith appoints new CEO

Independent running brand Tracksmith has announced the appointment of Jared Carver as its new CEO. Carver replaces with immediate effect the brand’s founder and decade-long CEO, Matt Taylor, who will work in an advisory capacity to ensure a smooth transition. Taylor will also step into the newly created role of Chief Creative Officer while maintaining his seat on Tracksmith’s Board of Directors. Jared Carver is an industry veteran with over 20 years of experience leading global brands. He worked for more than 11 years at Converse, serving most recently as President and CEO from June 2023 to July 2025.

Food & Beverage

MPearlRock acquires chips and cheeseballs company

MPearlRock has acquired The Good Crisp Co. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Founded in 2015 by Matt Parry, who will continue in his role as chief executive officer and continue to run the company post-acquisition, The Good Crisp Co. is a manufacturer of classic snacks that are perceived as natural. The Good Crisp Co.’s product line, found in over 20,000 retail doors, includes canister chips, cheeseballs and crinkle cut chips. Lotus Bakeries Group, through its corporate venture fund FF2032, took a minority stake in The Good Crisp Co., Inc. in December 2021. The investment was part of a larger Series A financing round, according to Lotus Bakeries.

General Mills sells Muir Glen tomato brand to private equity firm

General Mills sold its Muir Glen brand of organic tomatoes to Violet Foods, a manufacturer of pizza sauce, pasta sauce, and other tomato products owned by Amphora Equity Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The divestiture allows General Mills to shed a non-core brand to focus on its faster-growing snacks and pet food offerings. The sale follows the company’s divestiture of its North American yogurt business, which included Yoplait, for $2 billion last year. Violet Foods has been actively expanding its tomato portfolio by acquiring brands from larger CPG companies. Last year, it purchased Don Pepino and Sclafani from B&G Foods.

Uno frozen pizza offloaded by private equity firm

Private equity firm Brynwood Partners is selling its pizza division, Great Kitchens Food Company, to baked goods maker Rich Products for an undisclosed amount. Great Kitchens was founded in late 2020 and is now one of the leading U.S. manufacturers of private-label take-and-bake pizzas. In 2023, it boosted its offerings with the acquisition of the Uno Foods Division from Uno Restaurant, enabling it to manufacture the chain’s Pizzeria Uno deep-dish pizza, strombolis, and calzones. The deal for Great Kitchens, which sells its private-label and branded food products nationally through retail, foodservice, and e-commerce channels, is expected to close in the first quarter.

Grocery & Restaurants

Starbucks Stock Jumps as Traffic Grows for the First Time in Two Years

Starbucks on Wednesday reported mixed quarterly results as the company’s turnaround propels traffic growth for the first time in two years but weighs on its bottom line. “Our Q1 results demonstrate our ‘Back to Starbucks’ strategy is working and we believe we’re ahead of schedule,” CEO Brian Niccol said in a statement. “It’s great to see the sales momentum driven by more customers choosing Starbucks more often, and this is just the beginning.” The company also shared its first financial outlook since suspending its forecast in October 2024. For fiscal 2026, Starbucks is expecting global and U.S. same-store sales growth of at least 3%. The coffee giant reported fiscal first-quarter net income attributable to Starbucks of $293.3 million, or 26 cents per share, down from $780.8 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier. In addition to costs related to the turnaround, higher coffee prices and tariffs weighed on the company’s margins during the quarter.

Amazon converting some Fresh, Go stores to Whole Foods locations

Amazon said Tuesday it plans to sunset its Fresh and Go brick-and-mortar chains, marking a major pivot in the company’s grocery strategy. “After a careful evaluation of the business and how we can best serve customers, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, converting various locations into Whole Foods Market stores,” the company wrote in a blog post. Amazon said the closures are part of an effort to prioritize investments, though it hasn’t given up on physical retail. The company still plans to roll out other brick-and-mortar concepts, including “a mass physical store format.” It will continue to operate its Fresh grocery service and invest in same-day delivery of groceries, the company said. The company said it expects to open more than 100 new Whole Foods locations over the next few years. It will also expand its line of Whole Foods Daily Shops, which are mini-markets that offer a smaller assortment of grocery items.

Home & Road

Bob’s Discount Furniture eyes up to $2.48B valuation in IPO

Bob’s Discount Furniture is eyeing up to a $2.48 billion valuation in its initial public offering, according to a filing on January 26. The company is seeking to raise up to $369.6 million by offering 19.45 million shares of its common stock at a price between $17 and $19 per share. Bob’s Discount Furniture, earlier this month, filed for an IPO seeking to pay off debt. As of the filing date, the company had $350 million in debt under a term loan credit agreement entered into at the end of October. In the 12-month period ending September 28, the company made $2 billion in revenue and $119 million in net income.

Bumpy Fourth Quarter Closes Out Tractor Supply Fiscal 2025

Tractor Supply posted fourth-quarter results that missed analyst estimates and fell below company expectations as the retailer’s customers focused more on essential goods and less on discretionary merchandise. Net income was $227.4 million, or 43 cents per diluted share, versus $236.4 million, or 44 cents per diluted share, in the year-previous quarter, the company noted. An analyst consensus estimate from Zacks Investment Research called for earnings of 46 cents per diluted share and revenues of $4.01 billion. Net sales advanced to $3.9 billion from $3.77 billion in the year-prior quarter. According to Tractor Supply, new store openings, a 0.3% growth in comparable sales and the contribution from the company’s Allivet pharmacy operation drove the net sales gain. The comp gain emerged from a comparable average ticket growth of 0.3%. Tractor Supply reported continued strength in consumable, usable and edible products, adding emergency response-related demand and ongoing pressure in discretionary categories, including big-ticket products, dragged on results.

Jewelry & Luxury

LVMH Strengthens its Control Over Loro Piana

LVMH, which published its quarterly results on January 27th, showing a slight rebound (+1% sales in the fourth quarter), acquired Loro Piana, the Italian fashion house specializing in cashmere, vicuña, and extra-fine wool, for €2 billion in 2013. It is currently worth around €10 billion, Bernard Arnault said during the presentation of the results. This has been a highly successful venture for the French luxury goods giant. The group has just announced the purchase of half of the shares still held by the company’s founding family, which was established in 1942 by Pietro Loro Piana. “This transaction highlights Loro Piana’s remarkable and consistent results over the years, which have led to a more than fourfold increase in the company’s value since its integration into LVMH, and demonstrates the group’s unwavering confidence in the brand’s future growth,” LVMH said in a statement.

Watches of Switzerland Acquires 4-Store Jewelry Chain in Texas

The Watches of Switzerland Group has acquired another family-owned independent jeweler with multiple stores. On January 29th, the company announced that it had purchased 88 percent of Deutsch & Deutsch, with the option to buy the remaining share capital. Deutsch & Deutsch is a Texas-based, family-owned chain of four jewelry stores with roots dating back to the 1920s. It is a Rolex-anchored retailer that also sells Tudor, Breitling, Omega, and TAG Heuer watches, among others. Its jewelry brands include Tacori, John Hardy, and Roberto Coin. Watches of Switzerland Group owns the U.S. arm of Roberto Coin, which it acquired in 2024.

Office & Leisure

Range Sports Acquires Live Experiences Company Superfly

Range Sports has acquired Superfly, the marketing and event company behind Bonaroo and more.  As part of the acquisition, Superfly will drive experiential opportunities across sports, entertainment, music and more as Range launches a new live experiences division. Superfly founders Rick Farman, Rich Goodstone and Kerry Black, as well as the company’s leadership team and staff, will move with the company.  The acquisition does not include Superfly’s ownership interest in the music festival Outside Lands. Superfly will continue to produce the festival in partnership with Another Planet Entertainment, with no changes to the existing operating structure or creative leadership of the event.  Founded 25 years ago, Superfly also created and built up comedy and musical festival Clusterfest and The Friends Experience. Bonaroo was later acquired by Live Nation.

GameStop wants to conduct ‘major acquisition’ of a public company

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has said he wants to acquire a publicly traded company. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which spoke to the billionaire chief executive about his plans to secure that $35 billion payday that the company put him on track for last year. In order to do so, he has to bring GameStop’s market cap to $100 billion. As of January 30th, 2026, the retailer is worth $10.68 billion, and even at the height of the January 2021 meme stock frenzy, the firm only ever reached a peak of $33.7 billion. Cohen told the Journal that any potential acquisition would be “big”, adding that: “It’s ultimately either going to be genius or totally, totally foolish.” The executive is evaluating companies in the consumer or retail industry and already has a few in his sights.

Technology & Internet

Apple Sales Surge 16% on ‘Staggering’ iPhone Demand

Apple reported fiscal first-quarter earnings on Thursday that surpassed expectations, with revenue soaring 16% on an annual basis. Finance chief Kevan Parekh said that Apple expects revenue this quarter to rise between 13% and 16% on an annual basis, which would be equivalent to between $107.8 billion and $110.66 billion. Apple said it expects constrained iPhone supply during the period. Apple also said it expects its Services unit to have a year-over-year growth rate similar to the 14% in the December quarter. Overall iPhone revenue surged 23% on an annual basis to $85.27 billion, which the company attributed to strong sales of the iPhone 17 models released in September. Cook said Apple now has an active base of 2.5 billion iPhones, Macs and other Apple devices, up from 2.35 billion announced in January last year. That number is closely watched because it points to the addressable market for Apple services, as well as for software on the company’s platforms.

Meta Shares Jump on Stronger-than-Expected Forecast

Meta reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday that topped estimates and issued stronger-than-expected sales guidance. Meta said it expects first-quarter sales to come in the range of $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $51.41 billion. Finance chief Susan Li said that the forecast was “really underpinned by the strong demand that we saw through the end of Q4 and continuing into the start of 2026.” The company said fourth-quarter sales rose 24% year-over-year. The company said its advertising business generated revenue of $58.1 billion for the period. Advertising made up nearly 97% of the company’s overall revenue for the quarter. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta will release its latest AI models “over the coming months.” “I expect our first models will be good, but more importantly, we’ll show the rapid trajectory that we’re on,” he told analysts on a call Wednesday, “And then, I expect us to steadily push the frontier over the course of the year, as we continue to release new models.”

Elon Musk says Tesla ending Models S and X production

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles, and will use the factory in Fremont, California, to build Optimus humanoid robots. In its earnings announcement on Wednesday, Tesla reported its first annual revenue decline on record, with sales falling in three of the past four quarters. Musk has been trying to turn attention away from traditional EVs and toward a future of driverless cars and humanoid robots, areas where the company currently has virtually no business. Tesla is developing Optimus with the aim of someday selling it as a bipedal, intelligent robot capable of everything from factory work to babysitting. The company said in the release that it plans to unveil the third generation of Optimus this quarter, its “first design meant for mass production.”

Finance & Economy

Fed pauses interest rate cuts in first meeting of 2026

The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady after its January meeting, with Chair Jerome Powell striking a more optimistic tone on the U.S. labor market after concerns prompted three rate cuts late last year. The move leaves the federal funds rate, a benchmark for interest rates nationwide, unchanged at 3.5%-3.75%. It was the Fed’s first meeting since Powell confirmed a DOJ investigation into his testimony before Congress regarding ongoing renovations at the Fed’s headquarters. Also in the background was a Supreme Court case regarding President Donald Trump’s authority to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Ten of the Federal Open Market Committee’s 12 voting members supported the decision.

Trade deficit soared 94% in November and was higher than a year ago, despite tariff efforts

The U.S. trade deficit with its global trading partners nearly doubled in November as the shortfall with the European Union swelled and the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs worked their way through the economy, the Census Bureau reported on January 29th. After a month in which the trade deficit hit its lowest level since early 2009, it rose to $56.8 billion, up 94.6% from October. Of that gain, about one-third came with the European Union, where the goods deficit rose by $8.2 billion. The goods deficit with China decreased by about $1 billion to $13.9 billion. On a year-over-year basis, the deficit through November stood at $839.5 billion, or about 4% higher than the same period in 2024.