Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses the trend of retailers opening small-format stores and offering some existing store space to other parties.
• Millennials’ peculiar spending habits are the subject of constant scrutiny, and a new US Federal Reserve study confirms what many young people have likely known all along: if they’re spending less than previous generations, it’s because they have less money to spend.
• Retail sales in the UK grew by 0.5% year over year in November, according to the British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. Comparable sales fell by 0.5% as aggressive promotional activity proved futile to luring shoppers.
• E-commerce behemoth Alibaba and Spanish department store chain El Corte Inglés have signed a partnership agreement to explore new business opportunities within a digital retail and omnichannel common framework.