Tillerman Retail Roundup | News

June 2025
Legacy Closures, Creative Plays, and Signs of Stabilization - After months of tariff-driven volatility, May retail sales showed early signs of settling into a steadier pattern. From Hudson’s Bay’s symbolic closure to creative stunts and bold price pledges, June revealed how legacy players and industry giants alike are working to steady the ship—and stay relevant—as economic pressures persist.
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May 2025
May opened with a surge of retail volatility—from escalating (and quickly easing) tariff tensions to surprise leadership exits and mass layoffs. Yet behind the chaos, brands are making bold bets on licensing, technology, and digital luxury as they navigate one of the industry’s most unpredictable stretches in recent memory
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April 2025
April brought fresh challenges for the retail industry, as new tariffs, supply chain uncertainty, and department store struggles weighed heavily. But not all news was grim—strong earnings from select players and evolving strategies across channels suggest there’s still room for smart, adaptive growth.
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March 2025
Retail entered March on uncertain footing as February sales fell short and consumer confidence wavered. From surprise earnings and strategic resets to bankruptcies and AI-driven innovation, retailers are navigating a fractured landscape with bold, sometimes unconventional bets.
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February 2025
Retailers started 2025 with solid January sales, but optimism is clouded by new tariffs, inflation concerns, and shifting trade policies. From Walmart’s surprise mall purchase to Warby Parker’s wholesale push, February delivered a mix of strong earnings, strategic acquisitions, and economic uncertainty that’s shaping the months ahead.
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January 2025
Retail closed out Holiday 2025 with record-breaking sales driven by booming e-commerce and lower return rates. From the rising dominance of Costco, Walmart, and Amazon to fresh turnaround efforts and bold tech moves, January delivered key insights fueling the shift toward omnichannel growth, operational efficiency, and innovative brand strategies.
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December 2024
December wrapped up 2024 on a high note, with record holiday sales fueled by strong e-commerce growth and strategic promotions. Yet major players like Macy’s faced ongoing pressures, while JC Penney, PVH Corp., and Nike navigated mixed results. Meanwhile, Nordstrom’s privatization plans and Saks’s acquisition of Neiman Marcus signal noteworthy realignments in the luxury space, underscoring a dynamic close to the year.
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November 2024
November saw the retail industry balancing strong sales, financial challenges, and strategic holiday preparations. From Macy's financial revelations to Target's immersive holiday experiences, retailers are gearing up to make the most of the season amid evolving consumer trends and economic pressures.
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October 2024
From the resolution of a major dockworkers strike to promising September sales, October brought a mix of challenges and opportunities for retailers.
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September 2024
Labor Day weekend showed promising growth in mall traffic, signaling strength for brick-and-mortar retail as the industry gears up for the 2025 holiday season. Key players like Target, Macy’s, and Nordstrom are making strategic moves, while legal and market shifts loom on the horizon for international brands.
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August 2024
August's retail roundup captures a spectrum of market dynamics, from Amazon's record-setting Prime Day to mixed quarterly earnings, shedding light on key trends as 2024 progresses.
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July 2024
Building on June's unexpected retail sales growth, July saw continued momentum with significant mergers, strategic pivots by Nike and JC Penney, aggressive pricing from Wal-Mart and Kohl's, and groundbreaking campaigns by Etsy and Michael Kors.
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June 2024
June in the retail fashion industry witnessed a tapestry of successes, challenges, and strategic maneuvers, from robust Q1 earnings to e-commerce surges, legal battles, brand acquisitions, and innovative expansions, painting a dynamic portrait of the sector's resilience and evolution
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May 2024
May's retail narrative in 2024 unfolds with tales of adaptability and growth as major players like Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s, and Nordstrom navigate strategic shifts, partnerships, and sustainability efforts, setting the stage for a dynamic and customer-focused summer ahead.
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April 2024
Amidst a mix of promising growth and underlying concerns in the spring retail landscape, notable events like PVH's strong earnings report, strategic moves by Macy’s and Saks.com, and innovative initiatives by retailers reflect a delicate balance between optimism and caution in the industry.
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March 2024
As March draws to a close, we find ourselves saying goodbye to winter and eagerly anticipating the blossoming of spring. Before we fully embrace the changing seasons, let's take a look back at the headlines that dominated the fashion landscape during the past month..
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February 2024
February’s retail scene was marked by a leadership shift at Macy’s, tech innovations, and businesses strategizing to navigate the anticipated challenges of 2024.
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January 2024
Happy New Year, everyone! As we dive into the first month of 2024, it's a perfect time to explore some intriguing predictions for the year ahead. Brace yourselves for continued cost-cutting measures, the continued expansion of off-mall formats...
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December 2023
While we wait for the final Holiday sales tally, it is evident that the retail sector is poised to face challenges. Projections indicate returns will reach $82 billion this holiday season, prompting retailers and brands to revise their policies to offset some of the increased costs..
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November 2023
As we dive into the 2023 Holiday shopping season, the retail landscape is ablaze with the aftermath of the Black Friday weekend...
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October 2023
October was a month filled with highs and lows in the retail world, from IPO excitement to tech innovations and bold strategies. ..
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September 2023
Starting off the round up this month, the sportswear giant Nike may have stumbled on its revenue target, but it came sprinting past earnings expectations, leaving investors with a sense of optimism..
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August 2023
August opened with a little good news for stores with a nice year over year increase in foot traffic thanks to some positive back to school traffic. Too soon to say whether this is a sign of better than expected performance, but at least it’s a bright spot! A report on July Retail Sales...
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July 2023
Kicking off July with a bang, retailers offered heavy markdowns to help clear their inventories over the Fourth of July weekend. Despite some concerns about the potential impact of the resumption of student loan payments in the latter half of 2023, the increased promotions were designed to make room for new back-to-school merchandise amid growing optimism for brighter days ahead.
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June 2023
Summer is in the air and AI is causing a major buzz! WWD recently published an in-depth piece about the explosion of AI-driven technology in retail. It's mind-blowing to think about how AI is set to revolutionize the way we do business in the coming years..
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May 2023
The recap of May begins with earnings reports from Wal-Mart, Target & Home Depot. Wal-mart reported increases while Target and Home Depot showed decreases. Diving into the results reveals that discretionary categories are trending softer which helps to explain the Target and Home Depot numbers...
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April 2023
We'll kick off April with a piece about Tillerman Insight, our new interactive dashboard tool that is getting a great reaction and already delivering benefits across a number of our clients. Also in April, NRF predicted a total retail increase of 4-6% for 2023. While the expectation is for unemployment to increase, the consumer's resilience, so far, is shining through.
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March 2023
Some good news to kick off our March 2023 round-up as PVH delivered stronger than expected results for the 4th quarter. The market response was very positive as the company continues to execute the PVH+ strategy..
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February 2023
A key factor coming out of a disappointing 2022 was how things would get started in January 2023. WSJ reported that we've started off on the right foot-hopefully this is a sign that we can clear out the excess 2022 inventory and look forward to a reset for 2023.
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January 2023
The first month of 2023 began with a reflection on Holiday 2022 and some predictions for what may lie ahead for the coming year. Nordstrom announced a softer than expected 2022 performance, and WWD reported a mixed bag of results. ...
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December 2022
December started the 2022 Holiday shopping season with a mixed bag of results. Retail Dive reported that, according to the NRF, 196.7M people shopped over the Thanksgiving Holiday which was a record high
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November 2022
With the November weather finally turning cold, all eyes were on Black Friday to close out the month. According to the Wall Street Journal, early signs were pointing to a more muted shopping day than last year. But surprisingly they found that people spent $5.3 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, up 2.9%...
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October 2022
Holiday is on the mind of retailers everywhere heading into November, Black Friday and beyond, as the looming recession, increasing interest rates and election will likely have a big impact on retail performance as we wrap up 2022. CNBC reports that shoppers will see more deals and discounts this holiday season than the last two years, and low inventory is not as big an issue.
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September 2022
School is well underway across the country and Halloween is already in the air. Things continue to be busy in the retail industry. Amazon announced it will be holding a second Prime Day on October 11-12 to get a big jump start on the holiday season...
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August 2022
The end of summer 2022 brought a mixed bag of news. With gas prices falling, consumers took those savings to spend in retail. However, inflation continues to be a concern. Here are some of the other stories we've been paying attention to this month...
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July 2022
It's the dog days of summer and with it comes a mixed bag of retail news from July. Looking ahead, retailers are focused on back to school and getting a jump start on the holiday season. In June, retail sales were...
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June 2022
June brought the end of school and the start of vacation, along with some real fears about growing inflation, the bear stock market and trouble in the job market. While some industries are still desperate to fill open employment, the tech industry is seeing early signs of trouble...
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May 2022
We are about halfway through the calendar year that has seen some highs and lows in the retail world. Many retailers reported earnings this past month. Target and Walmart posted profit declines for the quarter, spooking analysts and sending stocks into a tizzy...
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April 2022
There were more ups and downs in the retail world this April. With Shanghai still in a lockdown due to China's zero-Covid policy..
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March 2022
As we rounded out the last month of Q1, now two full years since the start of COVID, March 2022 brought some much needed bright spots in retail..
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February 2022
We ended February with more uncertainty in the retail world as inflation and supply chain issues remain a cause of concern...
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January 2022
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell in December 1.9 percent from November, but overall total sales..
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