Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses Amazon’s private-label brands relative to more established names as well as the slew of new private labels Amazon has on the horizon.
• The National Retail Federation is forecasting a five-year high in back-to-school spending, driven by stronger employment levels and a continued increase in wages. Total spending for school and college combined is expected to hit $83.6 billion, up from $75.8 billion last year.
• German discount grocer Lidl intends to take its Irish store count up to 200 by 2018. The company already has 152 stores in Ireland.
• WeWork secured $500 million in funding and then announced that it is pouring that same amount into expanding into Southeast Asia and South Korea. As part of its announcement, WeWork said it had acquired a 1.5-year-old, Singapore-based coworking company called Spacemob.