Product Sourcing

In episode 221 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Nizzi Renaud, chief marketing officer at Zazzle, an online marketplace that allows designers and customers to create their own products with independent manufacturers. Listen in as Renaud discusses the unique ecosystem of Zazzle's marketplace, how its custom products are manufactured, and the wide…

Target Corp. introduced today Good & Gather, a private-label brand that features food and beverage products. Good & Gather, Target's largest owned brand launch, will be available in stores and online beginning Sept. 15. By the end of 2020, Target said the brand will include more than 2,000 products such as dairy, produce, ready-made pastas,…

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports starting Sept. 1, as talks aimed at easing tensions between the world’s two largest economies continue. “Trade talks are continuing, and during the talks the U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small…

Lab-grown diamonds have become a popular choice among millennial consumers, however, many traditional diamond producers and jewelry retailers still keep lab-grown diamonds in their back rooms. At Spence Diamonds, a 40-year-old diamond retailer, man-made stones are put front and center as the focus of its business, while also still selling earth-mined diamonds. Spence Diamonds reports…

Ikea plans to close its only U.S. factory site and shift operations to Europe. The Swedish furniture company’s Danville, Virginia, manufacturing facility will close in December, cutting about 300 jobs, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company said its production costs in Europe will be lower and that importing the goods will make its products more affordable in North America,…

The global cannabis market could be worth $32 billion by 2022, and consequently presents huge opportunities for retailers. While the transition from prohibition presents huge opportunities, it also presents huge challenges. BDS Analytics commented that 2018 was a year of "constantly diminishing forecasts," as retailers struggled to compete against the black market in a heavily…

Kohl’s announced that it has signed a long-term deal with Fanatics to sell the sports retailer's licensed gear exclusively on Kohls.com, starting this fall. Fanatics had already been a wholesale partner of Kohl’s. The new deal, however, will enable Kohl's online shoppers access to hundreds of thousands of items across team apparel, jerseys and additional merchandise for men,…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, and what it means for retailers and consumers. Last week, President Trump announced that the U.S. would be raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from…

Late last week, the Trump administration hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent, escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington. Trump asserted on Twitter that there was “no need to rush” to get a deal between the world’s two biggest economies and later added that the tariffs “may or…

Before manufacturing took over the world, businesses made every product by hand with an immaculate attention to detail. Today, companies blame their own manufacturers and suppliers for poor quality control, however, in many cases their own short-sightedness is the true culprit. The rise in entrepreneurship in the U.S. has led to the birth of some…