As the editor of Retail Dive, it’s my job to keep tabs on every piece of retail-related news—the good, the bad, and even the silly.
From American Apparel’s new, three-toed model to the papal iPad, here are the strangest reads from the past week.
American Apparel’s newest spokes-sloth
She’s cute, she’s hairy—and she’s American Apparel’s newest model. Meet Buttercup: the three-toed sloth that made her debut in the retailer’s newest ad campaign this week.
Barbie’s got style (and lots of followers)
Rivaling top fashion Instagrammers in followers and influence is… an 11.5 inch tall plastic doll? Fashion website Racked goes behind the scenes of Barbie’s “insanely popular, painstakingly-produced” Instagram account—@BarbieStyle—in this new feature.
Holy iPad
$30,500: That’s the price to own some papal technology once belonging to Pope Francis. The donated iPad was auctioned off by the Castells auction house, with proceeds going to a school for the poor in Uruguay.
Choice quote from the CNBC article: “Pope Francis has called the Internet a ‘gift from God,’ but confesses to being a ‘disaster’ with technology.”
The Great Sneaker Bandit
Business Insider covers yet another “high-profile sneaker heist,” wherein a former Nike employee illegally sold more than 620 pairs of limited edition Nike sneakers for almost $680,000.
The 690-mile Yard Sale
The New York Times took a trip to the world’s longest yard sale – a 690-mile event that spans from Michigan to Alabama – picking up some tales and goods along the way. Warning: the video is quite long, but contains some touching stories and interesting wares.