Chinese banks lowered their key rates in effort to improve economy.
Retail Footwear prices were essentially flat in Jan’24 vs the same month last year.
Chinese Lunar New Year drove increased spending on travel and holiday categories within China.
Walmart reported record ecommerce sales of $100 billion or 23% increase.
M&A AND FINANCING NEWS
VIZIO (TV manufacturer) will be acquired by Walmart for $2.3B.
BuzzFeed (media company) sold its’ entertainment brand Complex to NTWRK (livestream shopping).
The Western European operations of Boardriders brands were acquired
by Beaumanoir Group from Authentic Brands Group
A-COLD-WALL*-Wall (fashion brand) was acquired by Tomorrow Ltd (brand accelerator).
Veldskoen Shoes (South African footwear brand) was re-acquired by the founders from Mark Cuban and Ashton Kutcher.
The Citizenry (home décor) was acquired by Havenly.
Carnegie Dartlett (marketing) was acquired by Shamrock Capital from New Heritage Capital, LLC.
Arctic Industries, LLC. (cold storage) was acquired by Kinzie Capital Partners LP .
United Grocery Outlet ( groceries) was acquired by Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. from Cap Gen America & management.
Elektra Health raised $3.3M from UPMC enterprises, among others.
Vatcom(customer engagement)raise $10 Million led by GSV & Co..
Planity (booking platform) raised 45M Euro led by InfraVia Capital Partners .
HBC extended the maturity date of its’ asset-based revolving credit facility to June 30, 2026, from October 2024. The credit limit for the facility is $1.1 billion.
PUBLIC COMPANY NEWS
Arkhouse Management launched a proxy fight with Macy’s, nominating nine directors to the Company’s board.
VF Corp’s debt rating was downgraded to lowered to BBB-, it’s lowest investment grade rating.
BowFlex reported it has substantial doubt on its operations.
The following public companies announced earnings this week:
Beyond, Camping World, Etsy, Garmin, Globe International, La-Z-Boy, OTB, New
Balance, The Home Depot, Saucony, Walmart, Wayfair, Wolverine.
EVENTS
The Lead Foremost 50 Forum will be held on March 7th. Click here to learn more information: https://lnkd.in/ekxhZcdF
MMG Advisors, Inc. attended the Retail Marketing Society’s ‘AI in Retail’ discussion, hosted Feb. 21
BEFORE YOU GO
For the first time since 1972 a private spacecraft landed on the moon yesterday at 6:23PM EST.
