Dive Brief:
Grove Collaborative has hired an Amazon veteran to lead its marketing initiatives, adding more experience to its leadership team. The sustainable DTC company named Jennie Perry its chief marketing officer on Wednesday.
Perry will be responsible for the company s marketing and brand strategy, as well as growth marketing, creative, communications and consumer insights, according to a press release. She will report directly to co-founder and CEO Stuart Landesberg.
Before joining Grove, Perry spent about nine years at Amazon, most recently as the chief marketing officer of Prime and Amazon North America, where she oversaw global marketing for Prime Day and Prime, as well as communications and media in the U.S., per the release.
Dive Brief:
Building off a year of growth, Lululemon on Thursday reported first quarter revenues increased 88% to $1.2 billion, up from $652 million last year when stores were temporarily shut due to the pandemic, according to a company press release. Net revenue rose 57% over 2019, the company said.
Direct-to-consumer net revenue increased 55%, but as brick-and-mortar sales rebounded sales represented 44.4% of total net revenue, down from 54% during Q1 2020. Men s growth outpaced women s compared to both 2020 and 2019, according to Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald on a call with analysts.
Unlike many retailers, the company was in the black a year ago, but net income still rose more than 400% from 2020 and 50% from 2019 to $145 million.
Dive Brief:
Rent the Runway this week did away with its subscription requirement for the purchase of secondhand items from its site.
Last year, the rental service began allowing subscribers only to purchase directly from its site; shoppers could also head to resale site ThredUp, which forged a partnership with Rent the Runway in September.
When the service launched subscriptions five years ago, members could buy items they d rented and had in their possession. The further expansion comes as Bloomberg reports the company is consulting banks on a possible initial public offering. Rent the Runway didn t immediately return a request for comment on that report.
Dive Brief:
With an eye toward digital expansion, Cole Haan has hired Stephen Henderson to serve as its chief digital officer, the company announced on Tuesday.
The company opened 26 localized sites in various international markets over the past year and plans to open more over the next fiscal year. In his new role, Henderson will oversee the brand s sites run by international distributors, as well as Cole Haan USA, Japan and Canada, the company said.
Before joining Cole Haan, Henderson was senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce at Caleres. He managed consumer-direct e-commerce as well as brand, creative, wholesale and consumer marketing for multiple footwear brands, per the announcement.
Dive Brief:
Amazon has scheduled Prime Day for June 21 and 22, with some special deals launching before then, executives said during a virtual press briefing on Monday. On day one as of midnight Pacific time, Prime members in 20 countries can participate; those without a membership can start a 30-day free trial.
The focus of the briefing was on marketplace sellers. Prime members who spend $10 with select small businesses on Amazon s marketplace will receive that amount in credit to use during the two-day sale, according to a follow-up press release. More than 300,000 third-party Amazon sellers are participating.
In many ways the sale starts immediately, with deals as of Wednesday on toys, home goods, the e-commerce giant s Fire TVs and other categories, as well as special offers on its premium music streaming and other services, according to a press release.