Story of the Week

Henkel to Acquire ‘Not Your Mother’s’ Haircare Brand to Strengthen North America Portfolio

Henkel has signed an agreement to acquire the U.S.-based hair care and styling brand “Not Your Mother’s” from private equity investor Main Post Partners. “Not Your Mother’s” is a fast-growing consumer haircare brand in North America that offers shampoos, conditioners, treatments, and styling products. Its portfolio includes popular product lines such as Curl Talk, Clean Freak, Beach Babe, Plump for Joy, and All Eyes On Me. In fiscal year 2025, the brand generated approximately €190 million in sales and delivered double-digit growth alongside strong margins. Henkel said the acquisition will strengthen its Consumer Brands hair portfolio in North America, the world’s largest haircare market.

Apparel & Footwear

Vera Bradley names Coach vet CEO

Ian Bickley has been appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Vera Bradley, the company announced on March 12th. Bickley served in leadership roles at Coach for 24 years, per his LinkedIn profile. The company also named Chief Financial Officer Martin Layding as its chief operating and financial officer. The leadership announcements were made amid the company reporting its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 results. Net revenues for the quarter were down 1.7% to $84.9 million, while net revenues for the year were down over 15% to $269.7 million.

Tilly’s Wakes Up Investors With 20.1% Comp Sales Gain in February

Tilly’s Inc — the Irving, Calif.-based specialty retailer — has generally operated, if not in the shadows of retail, then at its margins. Most of its 223 teen-focused stores are tucked away in malls, and the company has not generally distinguished itself with investors. For a brief moment in 2018, Tilly’s market capitalization shot up to over $600 million, but expectations have been low, and its market cap has lately been trading under $50 million — a valuation just slightly above the company’s cash on hand. Until March 12th, when the combination of big fourth-quarter gains, a strong outlook, some short investors betting the stock would fall, and the company’s relatively small footprint on Wall Street conspired for a blockbuster day. Shares of Tilly’s shot up as much 67 percent before closing up 50 percent to $2.45 for the day. That left the company with a market cap of $75.6 million.

G-III Bitten by Saks Global Bankruptcy in the Fourth Quarter

G-III Apparel Group was feeling some pressure in the fourth quarter. The Saks Global bankruptcy led to $17.5 million in bad debt expenses as well as another $45 million in noncash impairment charges. And the company is in the middle of exiting the licensed Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger businesses with onetime bestie PVH Corp. But Morris Goldfarb, chairman and chief executive officer, told WWD that it was “a reasonably good quarter” and that the company he’s led for more than 50 years is ready for whatever comes next — the complete exit of the PVH brands, fallout from the war with Iran or something else. “I don’t know that it could get much more difficult than we’ve faced in the last four or five years,” Goldfarb said.

Athletic & Sporting Goods

New Balance Expands Resale Program to Apparel

New Balance announced it is expanding its Reconsidered resale program, launched two years ago, to include apparel.  The program offers consumers the option to purchase pre‑owned New Balance footwear, as well as footwear and apparel from consumer returns with cosmetic imperfections that the company cannot sell as new product, which have been cleaned and inspected. Customers can also trade in gently worn New Balance shoes by mail or at over 100 NB retail stores and receive a voucher for accepted items toward a new purchase through its website or at participating U.S. New Balance retail locations.

Reebok replaces China licensee as revenues slide for third year running

Authentic Brands Group (ABG) has engaged Xinrui Sports (Shanghai) to take charge of its Reebok licenses and distribution in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, according to Jiemian News. ABG has issued a statement but posted nothing as yet to its corporate website. Jiemian says it has obtained confirmation from the company, which has declined to disclose further details.  According to the same source, which has queried China’s main enterprise-registry aggregator (Tianyancha), Xinrui Sports was founded in 2025 and is controlled by Shanghai Xinrun Investment Management, which holds a stake of 80 percent. The parent was founded in 2008 and deals in “technical services and clothing retail.”

Dick’s SG Sees Robust Early Returns on Foot Locker Transformation

Dick’s Sporting Goods’ fourth-quarter results topped expectations with both the legacy Dick’s and Foot Locker businesses delivering sales above targets. On an analyst call, officials indicated fewer Foot Locker doors will close than initially planned due to the strong performance of its Fast Break remodels. The Dick’s banner’s momentum is expected to continue in 2026 due to a World-Cup benefit and strength in its House of Sport and Fieldhouse rollouts.  The Dick’s business’ comps grew 3.1 percent, topping analysts’ consensus expectations of 2.2 percent growth. The gains were driven by a 4.4 percent increase in average ticket, partially offset by a 1.3 percent decline in transactions. On a two-year and a three-year stack basis, comps for the Dick’s business increased 9.7 percent.

Cosmetics & Pharmacy

L Catterton Combines Bel Cosméticos and Mundo do Cabeleireiro

L Catterton has combined Brazilian beauty retailers Bel Cosméticos and Mundo do Cabeleireiro to create the largest multi-brand specialty beauty retail platform in Brazil. The merged company will operate more than 130 stores across key Brazilian states, bringing together two complementary regional beauty retailers with limited geographic overlap. Both businesses have built strong local customer bases over more than three decades by offering curated assortments of beauty products at competitive prices. The combined platform plans to expand its offering across haircare, skincare, cosmetics, and fragrances while investing in omnichannel capabilities, digital infrastructure, and loyalty programs. Celso Moraes, co-founder of Mundo do Cabeleireiro, will serve as CEO of the combined company.

IEVA Group Announces IPO on Euronext Growth Paris

Personalized beauty and wellness company IEVA Group has announced plans to launch an initial public offering on the Euronext Growth Paris market. The IPO includes a capital increase of approximately €8 million, with new shares priced at €12.79 each. The subscription period runs from March 11 to March 25, 2026, with trading expected to begin on March 31, 2026. The Bpifrance BlueSpring 1 fund has committed €3 million to the offering, with an option to invest an additional €3 million. The proceeds will support IEVA’s growth strategy, including international expansion and potential acquisitions. The company reported revenue of €43.4 million in 2025 and operates a beauty tech ecosystem that includes brands such as IOMA Paris, Atelier du Sourcil, myIEVA, and My Little Paris.

EQT-Led Investors Exit Galderma With More Than Fourfold Return

An investor group led by EQT has exited its remaining stake in Swiss skincare company Galderma through a major share sale. EQT AB, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and Auba Investment Pte — backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC — sold their remaining shares in Galderma in a 4.89 billion Swiss francs (US$6.3 billion) transaction. The deal marked the final stage of their exit strategy, internally referred to as “Project Indigo,” and was expanded twice due to strong investor demand. The investors originally acquired Galderma from Nestlé in 2019 for around 10.2 billion francs, including debt.

Discounters & Department Stores

Ross opens 17 stores, pushing forward with brick-and-mortar expansion

Ross Stores has been steadily adding to its brick-and-mortar footprint over the past several years.  Ross opened a total of 90 stores in 2025, 40 of which came over a two-month period. The retailer acquired several bankrupt Rite Aid locations last year, mostly in its West Coast markets. Ross is also refreshing a number of its existing stores. “We are thrilled to kick off our 2026 expansion with new stores that bring great value to our customers and new jobs to communities across the country,” Richard Lietz, executive vice president of property development for Ross Stores, said in a statement.

Target reduces prices on 3K products

Target is lowering prices on about 3,000 products for spring, per a recent company press release. The price cuts range from 5% to 20% off the original price, beginning in March and lasting throughout the spring season on select items. Included merchandise spans select apparel, bedding, footwear, and everyday essentials, ranging from pantry staples to baby products. The company’s latest price drop is aimed at the customers it believes will power growth: busy families.

Kohl’s rules out major store closures despite disappointing Q4

Kohl’s Q4 net sales fell nearly 4% year over year to $5 billion, and comps fell nearly 3%, a disappointing result that CEO Michael Bender, on March 10th, said “presented clear opportunities.” Gross margin in the period expanded by 25 basis points to 33.1%, and net income surged 160% to $125 million. The struggling department store is keeping a low-key outlook for the year, forecasting that net sales and comparable sales alike could drop as much as 2% or, at best, be flat to 2025.

Emerging Consumer Companies

Ernesta raises $20 million with an eye toward growth

Ernesta is adding to its war chest. The direct-to-consumer custom rug brand launched in 2022 by Peloton founder John Foley has announced a $20 million investment. The Series B round, led by the company’s original lead investor, venture capital firm Addition, brings the fundraising total to $45 million. “We weren’t actually looking [to raise] money,” Foley tells Business of Home. “We’re in good shape financially and we’re profitable as of this year, but this $20 million is kind of opportunistic to strengthen the balance sheet and accelerate growth.” Growth is very much on the menu. Ernesta, which currently operates six showrooms, plans to bring its footprint to 30 by the end of 2027. At the same time, it will invest heavily in technology—whether that’s building software that helps the company work efficiently with local installers or tools that can be deployed at the manufacturing level.

Quince raises $500 million at $10.1 billion valuation

Online retailer Quince said on Wednesday it has raised $500 million ​in a Series E funding round at ‌a post-money valuation of $10.1 billion, signaling strong investor appetite for tech-enabled retail platforms benefitting from ​resilient spending by wealthy shoppers. The funding ​was led by ICONIQ Capital, with participation ⁠from Basis Set Ventures and Wellington ​Management among other backers. The San Francisco, California-based online platform sells a range of products including apparel, jewelry and home ​goods, working directly with manufacturers to ​make and ship items to customers without traditional retail distribution ‌layers. Quince ⁠says its tech platform allows it to forecast demand using artificial intelligence and produce goods in smaller batches to limit excess ​inventory. The ​company’s total ⁠revenue surpassed $1 billion in 2025.

Unilever Ventures Invests in Novos, Focusing on Longevity Science

Unilever Ventures has acquired a minority stake in longevity supplement company Novos, reflecting a shared belief in science-led approaches to longevity, which is expected to drive further development of Novos in the nutraceuticals sector. Novos’ flagship product, Novos Core, successfully extended the lifespan of aged mice by over 18% in animal studies and demonstrated significant improvements in cardiovascular health during clinical trials, particularly in enhancing vascular dilation capacity, indicating its effectiveness and market potential. Novos is currently sold directly to consumers in 180 countries and is available in the U.S. at retailers such as the Mayo Clinic store, Erewhon in Los Angeles, and select Four Seasons and Equinox gyms, with the expectation of driving sales growth through increased consumer awareness.

Mezcla Raises the Plant-Based Protein Bar with $9.5M in Series B Funding
Protein’s hold on the food industry shows no signs of stopping, and investors are taking note. New York-based Mezcla, known for its puff-crispy plant protein bars, has secured $9.5M in new financing to fuel product development and expand its footprint in supermarkets and online. The Series B raise, first reported by Nosh, was led by Bluestein Ventures, with additional participation from Santatera Capital, Grupo DMI, Lever VC, Habitat Partners, Tonic Ventures, and former BrightFarms and Icelandic Provisions CEO Steve Platt. SG Credit Partners provided debt financing for the round.

Food & Beverage

Hi-Chew owner to buy My/Mochi ice cream

Hi-Chew owner Morinaga & Co. said it reached an agreement to acquire My/Mochi, the largest mochi ice cream brand in the U.S., for an undisclosed amount. The deal enables Tokyo-based Morinaga to enter the U.S. frozen dessert market “at full scale” as the company aims to expand its snacking presence in the country, according to a release. For My/Mochi, the sale enhances the more than 30-year-old brand’s ability to innovate and reach a “broader group of consumers,” the brand’s CEO and President Craig Berger said.

Puratos to Acquire Dawn Foods, Bringing Together Complementary Capabilities

Baking companies Puratos and Dawn Foods announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Puratos intends to acquire Dawn Foods, subject to all customary regulatory approvals. For more than a century, Puratos and Dawn Foods have each built strong and trusted businesses with a passion for providing high-quality products, inspiration, and partnership to the professional bakery world. Founded in 1919 and 1920, respectively, these family‑owned companies have grown with a deep sense of purpose, guided by a long‑term vision and a people‑first culture that continues to inspire their teams and customers alike.

Conagra invests $220M to expand Arkansas manufacturing plant

Conagra Brands is spending $220 million to expand a chicken production plant in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as the company looks to strengthen its frozen foods business by focusing on protein. The Fayetteville plant produces ready-to-eat meals for several brands, including Hungry-Man, Banquet, Healthy Choice, Gardein, and Evol. The plant produces about 15 million cases of product per year. Construction is expected to begin later this year, the company said. The five-year investment is expected to create more than 100 jobs.

Babybel parent spending $200M to expand cheese production amid protein boom

Bel Group is spending $200 million to expand a Babybel cheese production plant in Brookings, South Dakota, the largest U.S. investment in the company’s history. The project will double the plant’s production to 20,000 tons annually and enable the company to meet future growth for snacking, protein, and portion-controlled foods. The expansion is expected to add 150 jobs. The announcement comes a month after Bel named former Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness CEO of its North America operations. Bel, which also makes Laughing Cow and GoGo Squeez, aims to double its U.S. business in the coming years.

Grocery & Restaurants

Logan’s Roadhouse acquired by SSCP Management

Logan’s Roadhouse, the 125-unit steakhouse brand, has been sold by J. Alexander’s parent company SPB Hospitality to Cici’s Pizza parent company, SSCP Management. This acquisition marks the brand’s third owner in six years. The sale of Logan’s Roadhouse was confirmed by SPB Hospitality, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group, which originally purchased the brand out of bankruptcy in 2020. “As part of this strategic decision, SPB will focus its resources on growing its upscale-casual and chef-driven brands, including J. Alexander’s, Stoney River, and the Garces Collection, which includes Amada and Village Whiskey,” a representative for SPB told Nation’s Restaurant News. “The company is confident Logan’s Roadhouse is well-positioned for continued success under SSCP’s ownership and leadership.” Over a year ago, SPB Hospitality began divesting from some of the original CraftWorks brands, with the sale of Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, ChopHouse & Brewery, Ragtime Tavern and Seven Bridges Grille & Brewery to Kelly Companies. Logan’s Roadhouse is the latest brand the company has sold off. In addition to Cici’s Pizza, SSCP Management currently owns Corner Bakery, Roy’s Restaurant, and is a franchisee of Sonic Drive-In and Applebee’s.

McDonald’s plans to go even lower on value

McDonald’s has started to find the right value equation after throwing everything out there for the past year and a half. Same-store sales during the fourth quarter grew 6.8%, including positive traffic, and chief executive officer Chris Kempczinski credited the chain’s Extra Value Meals program, launched in September, for re-gaining share among low-income consumers and improving affordability scores. “McDonald’s is not going to get beat on value and affordability. It’s in our DNA,” Kempczinski told analysts in February. Apparently, McDonald’s is also not going to rest on its laurels amid a continuing value environment that is showing no signs of letting up. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the chain will introduce a $3 price point for select items and a $4 breakfast meal in April. The $4 breakfast meal will include a McMuffin, hashbrown, and coffee. The $3 and less menu will replace the buy-one-add-one-for-$1 menu introduced last year and includes items such as 4-piece Chicken McNuggets and a sausage biscuit.

Home & Road

Williams-Sonoma unveils first store for its GreenRow brand 

A sustainable home furnishings brand that William-Sonoma launched in 2023 has made its brick-and-mortar debut. GreenRow has opened its first physical store, in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. The company says the flagship marks a major milestone for the brand, taking its “mission-driven approach” to home furnishings into a physical retail experience. The SoHo store is designed to feel like a lived-in home rather than a traditional showroom, highlighting its “dedication to creating heirloom quality furniture and textiles.” It features the brand’s full assortment of furniture, lighting, textiles, rugs and décor, alongside a curated selection of original art, one-of-a-kind vintage and found pieces available for purchase.

American Mattress closes some stores. Could Chapter 7 be next? 

Printed signs on doors of some American Mattress locations indicate that those stores are closed, at least temporarily. Additionally, the committee of unsecured creditors in the bedding specialty retailer’s Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has filed a motion to convert the case to Chapter 7. American Mattress filed an objection to the motion, noting that it has a buyer lined up to purchase its assets and pay any cure costs. A photo of a sign sent to Furniture Today shows a store as temporarily closed and provides a number for customers to inquire about orders. Furniture Today called the number, but nobody answered, and the voice mailbox was not set up to receive messages. On Jan. 28, the official committee of unsecured creditors filed a motion to convert the Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 case. In the Jan. 28 motion to convert the case, the unsecured creditors argued that American Mattress had not made meaningful progress toward reorganization, had not filed or circulated a plan, and continues to operate without credible financial projections, a business plan or independent financial oversight.

Sleep Number sales slide 16% as company bets on new beds to spark growth 

Sleep Number reported sharply lower sales and a wider loss for fiscal 2025 as weak mattress demand and lower store traffic continued to pressure results, even as the company moved aggressively to cut costs and roll out a new product lineup aimed at reigniting growth. For the year ended Jan. 3, the vertical bedding retailer reported net sales of $1.41 billion, down 16% from $1.68 billion a year earlier. The company posted a net loss of $132 million, compared with a loss of $20.3 million the previous year. Despite the decline, company leaders said the business made progress on its turnaround strategy, reducing expenses and introducing new products designed to stabilize performance and return the company to profitable growth. “Sleep Number exceeded 2025 guidance provided on our last earnings call,” said Linda Findley, president and CEO. “We are still in full turnaround mode and made significant progress against our new product and marketing strategies while continuing to reduce costs.”

Jewelry & Luxury

Hugo Boss’ New Strategy Brings Q4 Dividends

Hugo Boss said the company’s back-to-basics, profit-optimization strategy is working, and this seemed to be borne out by the German brand’s fourth-quarter results last year. Sales in the last three months of 2025 rose 7 percent, in currency-adjusted terms, to 1.28 billion euros. This meant that over the whole year, revenues rose 2 percent to 4.27 billion euros. Hugo Boss also reported that operating profit improved by 22 percent in the fourth quarter. Over all of 2025, operating profit rose by 8 percent to 391 million euros due to “a focus on productivity improvement and cost efficiency,” the company noted. Those numbers were above expectations of around 379 million euros, analysts from RBC, JPMorgan, and Jefferies noted.

David Berdugo Named CEO of Caratwise

David Berdugo, the former chief operating officer of Blue Nile and James Allen, has been appointed CEO of Caratwise, a custom platform for independent jewelers. Owned by Indian diamond giant Hari Krishna, Caratwise is now working with a select group of jewelers and plans to expand later this year. Berdugo tells JCK that “85% of customers want personalization for bridal, and all things being equal, they prefer to buy at independent jewelers. But the challenge for independents is that they don’t have the money to install sophisticated, custom-designed technology on their sites. The big e-tailers have the technology, but they’re not local, so they don’t have the same trust.”

Office & Leisure

Underdog to expand prediction markets with new in-house offering

Underdog is set to expand its prediction markets offering under its own exchange after acquiring Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered Aristotle Exchange.  The fantasy sports operator has purchased Aristotle Exchange DCM and Aristotle Exchange DCO, which are a CFTC registered Designated Contract Market (DCM) and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), respectively.  The acquisition enables Underdog to offer its own prediction market exchange, having launched sports prediction markets in its app last September through a partnership with Crypto.com.

Kjerulf Ainsworth makes new bid for Ainsworth shares

Kjerulf Ainsworth, a member of the family that founded Australian slot machine maker Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd, is seeking to raise his stake in the company to a maximum of 13.25 percent, according to a Wednesday announcement.  Mr. Ainsworth, a son of the group’s founder, said in a Wednesday letter to fellow shareholders: “I intend to make an all-cash offer to acquire 5.5 percent of all ordinary shares of Ainsworth Game that I do not currently hold for AUD1.30 [US$0.93] per share.”  According to the letter, filed by Ainsworth with the Australian Securities Exchange, Mr. Ainsworth currently holds 8.17 percent of Ainsworth’s ordinary shares.

Betty acquires bingo hall in Ontario to support online bingo expansion

Toronto-licensed online casino operator Betty is expanding into the online bingo sector after acquiring Kirkland Lake Bingo Hall in northern Ontario.  The acquisition of the land-based bingo venue will preserve local jobs and support Betty’s move into the regulated iBingo market.  Betty said that owning a long-standing, community-rooted bingo hall enables the company to operate within Ontario’s regulated charitable bingo framework and grow the charitable funding that flows back into local communities.

Technology & Internet

Amazon wins court order to block Perplexity’s AI shopping agent

A federal judge temporarily blocked startup Perplexity from accessing Amazon’s site with its Comet artificial intelligence browser, according to court filings. Amazon sued Perplexity in November, alleging the startup took steps to “conceal” its AI agents so they could continue to scrape the online retailer’s website without its approval. Perplexity called the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, a “bully tactic.” Perplexity’s Comet allows shoppers to ask the assistant to find items on Amazon and make purchases. In a ruling dated Monday, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney wrote that Amazon has provided “strong evidence” that Perplexity’s Comet browser accessed its website at the user’s direction, but “without authorization” from the e-commerce giant.

Microsoft plans to ship prototype of next Xbox to developers in 2027

Microsoft said Wednesday that it will send video game developers prototypes of its next-generation Xbox console in 2027, as the company tries to narrow the gap with Nintendo and Sony. The hardware will feature a custom chip from Advanced Micro Devices, Jason Ronald, a vice president in Microsoft’s Xbox division, said in a blog post. “It delivers an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability, integrates intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline, and drives meaningful gains in efficiency, scale, and visual ambition,” Ronald wrote. “The result is more realistic, immersive, and dynamic worlds for players.” Microsoft’s announcement comes weeks after the company said longtime gaming head Phil Spencer was retiring, and would be replaced by artificial intelligence executive Asha Sharma. In a message to employees, Sharma said the company would make a renewed commitment to Xbox, starting with console gaming. Just over 7% of Microsoft’s revenue came from gaming in the December quarter, with Xbox hardware revenue falling 32%.

Finance & Economy

Fourth-quarter GDP revised down to just 0.7% growth; January core inflation was 3.1%

Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025, while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported March 13th. Gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced across the sprawling U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of just 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. The first revision of the GDP reading was a sharp step down from the previous estimate of 1.4% and well below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 1.5%. It also marked a considerable slowdown from the 4.4% gain in the prior period.

Gig workers feel pain at the pump as gas prices hit 21-month highs

For more than a decade, Alvaro Bolainez has ferried passengers around the Los Angeles area in his SUV as a rideshare driver. He’s never seen anything like what’s happened with gas this month. The average price of unleaded gas jumped around 22% over the last month to its highest level since mid 2024, according to AAA. “It’s changing so quick,” Bolainez told CNBC. “It’s insane.” In Bolainez’s eyes, it feels like prices at the pump have skyrocketed “overnight” following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Bolainez has tried to avoid shorter rides to ensure he’s turning a profit. Bolainez is part of a network of millions of Americans who offer services like delivery or ride-hailing as a source of income. Because these gig-economy jobs typically require a car, the workers are acutely feeling the impacts of the rapid surge in oil prices.

U.S. deficit tops $1 trillion through February but runs below year-ago pace

The U.S. budget deficit surpassed $1 trillion for the fiscal year through February but was sharply lower than the same period a year earlier, Treasury Department data showed on March 11th. Outlays exceeded receipts by $308 billion in February, roughly in line with the deficit recorded in the same month a year ago. For the fiscal year to date, the deficit totaled $1.004 trillion, about 12% lower than the comparable period in 2025, as government revenues rose faster than spending. Helping narrow the gap was a sharp increase in tariff collections. Customs duties totaled $151 billion through the first five months of the fiscal year, up about $113 billion, or 294%, from a year earlier.