Executive Summary

August 17, 2018

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses how athleisure and sneaker culture are changing mainstream fashion.
• The National Retail Federation raised its US retail sales forecast for 2018. The trade body now expects retail sales, excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, to rise by a minimum of 4.5% over 2017.
• Retailer Sports Direct has agreed to take over all of House of Fraser’s stores and stock, as well as its brand name, for £90 million ($115 million).
• Chinese online grocery delivery company Dada-JD Daojia announced that it has raised $500 million from Walmart and JD.com in its latest round of funding.