Reigning Supreme, Publishers Create Community Via Slack, Gin Sales Booming, Communities Can Grow Too Quickly, Farmers Earning More on YouTube, Equinox Hotel, Pabst Hard Coffee, Banana Leaf Packaging,
Covering commerce daily from Amazon to Zulily. Happy Monday!
The Real Story of Supreme - GQ
An exclusive inside look at how an upstart NYC skate brand changed fashion forever.
James Jebbia, who, as ever, guides virtually every aspect of the company that he founded, declined to be interviewed in person for this story but agreed instead to respond to my written questions via an in-house interlocutor—and provided perhaps the deepest and most insightful articulation of his vision and design philosophy that he's yet offered on record.
The now defunct brand of futuristic fashion—worn by notable style beacons of the era such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and Rip, the abhorrent drug dealer from Bret Easton Ellis's novel Less Than Zero —once had outposts in Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Bal Harbour, Florida.
How digital publishers are using Slack to drive reader engagement – Glossy
The Slack tool offers a nostalgic, more intimate platform for readers to connect amongst themselves, and with editors.
Traditional fashion publishers, however, have so far held off, but recent integrations of the tool by younger, more modern sites hint at Slack’s untapped potential to drive engagement and build community for media.
“We’ve done this cool thing where we leverage another technology instead of starting our own app, and include our most engaged girls,” Weiss told Glossy at the time , noting that the channel would be used to glean consumer insights and facilitate meet-ups across the country.
Are Gin Sales Booming Thanks to 'Plant Theory'? - Fortune
With a botanical base, gin has an herbaceous vibe that fits neatly into the plant craze.
The power of plants is changing consumption behavior across many food and beverage categories: There are plant-based burgers, chicken, seafood, and milk products—and even cannabis is soaring in popularity.
“If you start from the idea that American spirits consumers have always and will always look for flavorful experiences, and you layer on the trend of authenticity, craftsmanship, and health and wellness—it sets the stage for the reemergence of gin,” says Jeff Agdern, senior vice president of New Brand Ventures at Pernod Ricard.
Communities Can Grow Too Quickly - Hunter Walk
I was recently granted access to a Slack community associated with a newsletter I’ve been reading for a while.
Product designers and communities themselves will build in techniques to manage this scaling – for example, a hardcoded onboarding tutorial when you start an app or even the pinned note at the top of subreddit which spells out the rules of engagement and FAQ.
Figuring out the carrying capacity of your current community, how to onboard new users and manage growth is a set of fascinating design decisions.
Farmers Earn More From YouTube Than Their Crops - Bloomberg
It’s a sign of the times when farmers make more money advocating for the industry on social media than actually farming.
Zach Johnson, who grows corn and soybeans in Minnesota, is known in YouTube circles as MN Millennial Farmer. It’s a role, he says, that’s provided him and his wife, Becky, about five times more in earnings than he can make on the family farm in the last year.
Inside the ‘Ultimate High-Performance Luxury Lifestyle’ Experience at the New Equinox Hotel
It seesaws between over-the-top and undeniable enticement.
The locker room at the Equinox Fitness Club, Hudson Yards.Equinox has had great success getting city dwellers to pay well north of $200 per month for a gym membership.
Restaurateur Stephen Starr assists with the nutrition component, serving Mid-Atlantic cuisine at the Electric Lemon restaurant, while the minibar is stocked with organic gummy bears, crispy almond Brussels sprouts, and other snacks.
Pabst Blue Ribbon Seeks Buzz With Hard Coffee
Americans are buying less beer from big breweries, so companies are getting creative to attract customers. Pabst is testing what one customer describes as a "Frappuccino" — with an alcoholic kick.
And for nearly five years, 8 th Wonder Brewery in Houston has sold what its website describes as "Porter infused with cold brew coffee and milk sugar."
But tastes are changing, and Pabst Brand Director John Newhouse says his company is trying to respond by being be nimble and diversifying the kinds of beverages it sells.
Supermarkets in Asia are Now Using Banana Leaves Instead of Plastic Packaging - NextShark
Supermarkets in Vietnam have adopted an initiative from Thailand that makes use of banana leaves instead of plastic as a packaging alternative. Rimping supermarket in Chiangmai, Thailand earned praise on Facebook for coming up with the eco-friendly packaging after a local firm featured it on their page last week. The novel idea, which was an instant hit among netizens, soon caught the attention of Vietnamese supermarkets.
In an interview with VnExpress , a representative from the Lotte Mart chain shared that they are still in the testing phase but are planning to replace plastic with leaves nationwide very soon.
According to VN Express , the use of the leaves as packaging is a welcome addition to the numerous other efforts establishments in Vietnam are experimenting with to reduce plastic waste.
The $400 billion adaptive clothing opportunity - Vogue Business
Mass labels like Asos and Target are dressing differently abled people, but there is unmet demand for fashion-forward, professional styles.
Tommy Hilfiger made a splash in 2016 with an adaptive line that includes jeans sized to allow for prostheses, sundresses that use Velcro fasteners in place of small buttons, and jackets and trousers designed to be comfortable for wheelchair users.
Luxury labels have made one-off pieces for high-profile advocates like Sinéad Burke, who wore custom Gucci to this year’s Met Gala, and actress Ali Stroker, who was dressed in a bespoke neon number by Rachel Antonoff for the Tony Awards.
This is the 'fastest growing trend' in the housing industry, and investors are rushing in - CNBC
Demand for single-family rental homes is surging, and homebuilders are now stepping in, redesigning and reimagining the sector, and becoming landlords themselves.
The millennial household formation, they're not really dialed into taking care of a home, they want to go out and do the same thing that the boomers are doing, which is enjoy life, not work hard for their house," said Wolf.
That is why homebuilders Lennar and Toll Brothers have recently started building homes specifically to sell to investors as rentals.
Apple's sleek new titanium credit card may be weeks away from launching - Business Insider
The Apple Card's release date may only be weeks away, says a new report. The Apple Card was announced in March and is set to launch this summer.
In addition to providing the perks mentioned above, Apple's Wallet app will also break down purchases according to category and can pinpoint the location of your transactions on a map.
The move represents part of Apple's push into services as it grapples with slowing revenue from iPhone sales.
The business of the body - Economist
The world is becoming a temple to wellness. Is this quackery?
To immerse himself, Schumpeter hauled his flabby body to Taryn Toomey’s The Class in New York, which invites its sometimes A-list, mostly female clientele to “witness their resistance to discomfort” by leaping around on a mat to thumping music.
CVS, an American pharmacy chain, hopes to install 1,500 “HealthHUBs” by the end of 2021, including “care concierges”, dieticians and yoga rooms, to monitor people’s wellness and save on the hospital bills for its newly acquired insurance company, Aetna.