Producing more than 200 new scents a year, Bath & Body Works’s fragrance development is nothing to sniff at.

Its latest, Sweetest Song, will buoy its second-largest holiday for sales, Mother’s Day, sold in a whopping 19 different forms, from perfume to body cream to hand sanitizer.

Some of its newest scents have proven powerful in driving new business, especially amid the recent fragrance boom. Last spring, the retailer went viral when it introduced Everyday Luxuries, a “prestige-inspired” line of fragrance mists, that many dubbed dupes for scents by luxury brands like Tom Ford and Le Labo. CEO Gina Boswell noted the line has been “attracting a new, younger, and more diverse customer base” and helping drive sales growth in the body care segment. In Piper Sandler’s latest Taking Stock With Teens survey published this month, Bath & Body Works was named the No. 3 beauty destination for teens, the first time it broke the top 10 since 2018.

But before consumers can spritz on the scents, they take a year, and many steps, to create, Lewis said.

Keep reading here.—EC

The highly publicized “Economic Blackout” on February 28 did not ultimately make a major impact on retail sales and trips that day, but certain consumer groups, particularly Black and LGBTQ+ shoppers, demonstrated a significant spending change, according to new data from Numerator.

The boycott, organized by grassroots organization The People’s Union USA, asked consumers to freeze spending for 24 hours. On February 28, which fell on a Friday, sales dropped 5.4%, and trips were down 4.1%, but compared to the average Friday, the changes were within the general variations typically seen from week to week, according to Numerator.

Household penetration for Amazon, Target, and Walmart, dropped 2.2 percentage points, which Numerator did note was a “statistically significant decline, suggesting influence beyond standard week-to-week variation,” as sales at those retailers dropped 6.2% and trips fell 7.5%, larger than overall retail market impact.

For Black shoppers, household penetration fell 10.1 points, sales dropped 18.7%, and trips declined 17.6%. At Amazon, Target, and Walmart, those declines were steeper—a 24.9% dip and 27% traffic drop. Overall, Black households spent under $1 billion on February 28, a $220 million decline, which Numerator noted was the only drop like that in the past year. These changes, Numerator noted, were “statistically significant.”

Keep reading here.—EC

The de minimis party is over on April 25.

Both Temu and Shein have separately announced sweeping plans to “adjust” the prices of items sold on their platforms starting then, citing “recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs.” To be sure, both the notices use identical language.

The China-linked e-commerce platforms also urged US shoppers to shop right away: “Until April 25, prices will stay the same, so you can shop now at today’s rates. We stand ready to make sure your orders arrive smoothly during this time.”

The rollback of de minimis—which allowed packages valued at up to $800 to enter the US without additional duties or tariffs—for all shipments from China and Hong Kong is set to come into effect on May 2. Reuters reported that de minimis accounts for more than 90% of US imports, and orders from Shein and Temu account for about 60% of these shipments.

“De minimis has been instrumental for Shein and Temu’s growth but we always knew it will end eventually,” Juozas Kaziukėnas, founder and CEO of Marketplace Pulse, shared in a message to Retail Brew.

Keep reading here.—VC