This week in retail was filled with plenty of head-scratching oddities.
From the ubiquitous altheisure movement to the need to provide shoppers with "experiences," retailers have devised unique ways to cash in on the latest trends. But not all attempts work out, sometimes in hilarious ways.
Some ideas may actually be a home run, like Miss Teen USA's bet on athleticwear. Others are a little too trendy for their own good (Nike's misguided Wimbledon dress, we're looking at you). Others—Kellogg's fast-casual cereal restaurant—well, we might just have to wait and see.
This, and more, in this week's Retail Therapy below.
A not-so-Grand Slam
Nike is having a rough week, starting with reports that profit fell 2% in the most recent quarter. And then, the dress happened.
Many Nike-sponsored female tennis players competing at Wimbledon say the outfit provided by Nike for the tournament—a loose, white babydoll dress—was not designed with sprinting after 110-plus miles-per-hour serves in mind. The Nike Premier Slam dress apparently has the tendency to fly up and expose, um, well, a lot, with players reportedly complaining that it interferes with their game.
‘It was flying everywhere’: Women players hate wearing Nike’s tennis dress at Wimbledon https://t.co/sLRdEs30ma pic.twitter.com/SRktHFeEZn
— Laura Hensley (@LolaHensley) June 30, 2016
Nike's dress passed the Wimbledon decency test, but wardrobe changes followed anyway https://t.co/jFq70ztMim pic.twitter.com/evTSkNYxom
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) June 30, 2016
Nike has since altered the dress, but some players took matters into their own hands, tying it down with headbands and warmup jackets.
Athletic appeal
Even with these problems, Nike and other sportswear retailers scored a win this week when the Miss Teen USA pageant announced that it will be ditching its swimsuit competition for ... athletic wear. The move is being made to emphasize the role that athletics play in contestants’ lives, according to USA Today—and also perhaps the huge role athleisure plays in their wardrobes.
Betting on ‘never ever getting back together’
There are multiple eccentric items stocked or once stocked on Chinese e-commerce website Taobao, including a boyfriend (yes, you could literally rent a boyfriend) and breast milk soap. Now, you can add “breakup insurance” to the list—specifically, breakup insurance for Taylor Swift’s new relationship with actor Tom Hiddleston, which promises to pay buyers back twice their original purchase if the two break up, according to New York Mag. Sadly, Refinery 29 is reporting the insurance is no more: China has ordered Taobao to take down the product, as well as insurance policies for Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom’s relationship.
High-priced snacking
If you think paying $7.50 for a bowl of cereal is ridiculous—well, you're probably right. But that’s not stopping Kellogg’s from opening a branded fast-casual concept in New York’s Times Square, where designer bowls of its cereals are being hawked for the price of a whole box of cereal (and more). Items include the “Pistachio & Lemon," which is composed of Special K, Frosted Flakes, pistachios, lemon zest and thyme, and “The Chai Line," made up of Crispix, peaches, and chai tea powder.