A rendering of the Puma Studio in Los Angeles. The move follows the athletics retailer moving its marketing operations from Boston to Germany last year. Courtesy of Puma
By Retail Dive Staff
Source: www.retaildive.com, April 2024
The athletics brand said the studio will open in 2025, while spending pullbacks contributed to the scrubs brand’s recent negative rating.
It’s been another week with far more retail news than there is time in the day. Below, we break down some things you may have missed during the week and what we’re still thinking about.
From tween brand Justice’s collaboration with Minecraft to Taft’s first women’s collection, here’s our closeout for the week.
What you may have missed
Minecraft gets Justice
Tween clothing brand Justice announced on Tuesday a collaboration with best-selling video game Minecraft. The limited-edition Justice x Minecraft collection includes a selection of tops, bottoms, accessories, sleep sets and swimwear available exclusively at Walmart.
“The entire Justice team is committed to delivering unique collaborations that cater to the passions and preferences of all girls,” Kat DePizzo, president of Justice Design Lab, said in a statement. “This collection goes beyond clothing; it captures the spirit of Minecraft and tailors it to every tween’s style, building on our 20-year mission to champion girls and break style barriers in the fashion industry.”
Bank of America downgrades Figs, citing spending pullbacks from core customer base
DTC scrubs brand Figs may be facing trouble as consumers pull back on discretionary spending. Bank of America on Tuesday downgraded Figs’ stock to underperform, citing a “challenging sales environment” for the brand.
“We think COVID caused a pull-forward in demand for scrubs, creating outsized growth and margins for FIGS. The healthcare worker is now squeezed by inflation and focused on spending on other areas instead of replenishing their uniforms,” the analysts wrote in a research note led by Bank of America research analyst Lorraine Hutchinson. “Without a line of sight into an improving macro environment for the core customer that would drive stronger sales, we see few catalysts for multiple expansion.”
In its most recent quarter, Figs reported Q4 revenues were flat year over year, while net income increased from $3.4 million in the year-ago period to $10 million. For the full year, the brand reported revenue increased nearly 8% year over year to $545.6 million — which Hutchinson noted as “better than initial expectations,” but said it was driven in part by inventory clearing.
“Figs executed the inventory reduction nearly seamlessly (gross margin only down 100 [basis points] in 2023), but this likely pulled forward some demand, creating pressure on the 2024 outlook,” Hutchinson said.
For the year ahead, Figs expects revenue to be down mid-single digits to flat.
Puma plans design, marketing space in Los Angeles
After moving its marketing operations from Boston to Germany last year, Puma this week announced it would open a “creative space” in Los Angeles in early 2025 to help the athletics brand win share in the U.S. market. That’s in addition to a U.S. product team located in Somerville, Massachusetts.
The move is aimed at positioning the brand’s design and marketing teams “closer to the most influential communities and celebrities” in the U.S. When Puma CEO Arne Freundt — who took over in November 2022 — restructured the company’s marketing organization and moved things to Germany to speed up decision-making, the executive said the North America team would still have responsibility for local sports marketing and partnerships. Now it seems Freundt wants to give them even more autonomy.
“Opening our Puma Studio in LA is an important strategic move for us, as we seek to elevate our business in the United States,” Freundt said in a statement. “Our new home will allow us to attract the best talent in one of the most vibrant and creative cities globally to create great product propositions for the US market.”
The brand has seen a slew of executive changes in the past couple of years, including the exit of its global brand chief and the naming of a new senior vice president of North American wholesale sales. Puma brought on H&M vet Julie Legrand to lead global brand strategy in February.
Taft launches first women’s collection
On Tuesday, Taft launched Taft for Her, the brand’s first-ever women’s collection. The line takes the qualities of the brand’s bestselling men’s shoes, boots and loafers and adds “a fresh, feminine perspective,” the company said.
The new line includes the Jill Boot, the Roma Boot, the Freya Boot and the Flora Loafer, which all mirror their male counterparts. The women’s line is available in sizes 5 to 12, with prices ranging from $255 to $295, and can be purchased on Taft’s website and at select retail partners.
