News Briefs

Nintendo’s second official store in the United States officially has an opening date.

The video game giant will open its store in the Union Square neighborhood of San Francisco on May 15. First announced last spring, Nintendo San Francisco will offer video game fans a “unique shopping experience” filled with Nintendo’s characters, worlds and exclusive products including accessories, apparel, home goods and souvenirs available only at the new location.

Nintendo San Francisco will be Nintendo’s second official location in the U.S., joining the Nintendo store at Rockefeller Center in New York City. (Nintendo, however, also has venues at U.S. theme parks.) The two-level NYC store, which officially opened in 2005, features Nintendo games and related merchandise, hardware and accessories. The second floor is devoted to museum-like display cases of Nintendo consoles. 

There are only three Nintendo stores outside of the U.S. They are all located in Japan, in the cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.

[READ MORE: New retail and events destination opens in San Francisco]

Nintendo has sold more than 5.8 billion video games and over 850 million hardware units globally. The company’s franchises, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and more, have become household names worldwide.

An iconic British footwear brand made famous by generations of punk and alternative rockers is modernizing how it recognizes and interacts with customers.

Dr. Martens, which sells sandals and shoes as well as its legendary boots which have shod musicians such as The Clash and The Who, is transforming its global data and marketing operations strategy with the AI-equipped Amperity customer data cloud.

"At Dr. Martens, we're not just selling iconic boots, shoes, and sandals; we're elevating retail experiences that exceed expectations," said Lynn Ritson, global digital director at Dr. Martens. "Selecting Amperity demonstrates our commitment to enhancing customer engagement with AI-powered personalization. Initial results show we can better serve our customers across all touchpoints while driving business growth."

Through this partnership, Dr. Martens will leverage Amperity's AI-powered identity resolution and insights platform to recognize and engage its direct-to-consumer customers across all channels key global markets while ensuring privacy compliance. 

The brand views compliance as especially important with evolving privacy regulations and the approaching end of third-party cookies. 

"Dr. Martens' partnership with Amperity marks a significant milestone in their digital transformation journey," said Matthew Biboud-Lubeck, GM at Amperity. "In today's evolving digital landscape, their proactive approach to enhancing customer engagement through our AI-powered customer data cloud will enable personalized experiences across all touchpoints while maintaining robust privacy compliance. This collaboration exemplifies how leading brands are using AI-driven solutions to build deeper customer relationships and drive sustainable growth."

Fast-fashion retailer Forever 21, a banner of Authentic, also utilizes Amperity AI-based customer data technology to gain insights into cross-channel behavior, data science scores, and content affinities.

[READ MORE: Forever 21 unifies customer data for enhanced personalization]

Tailored Brands has announced several changes to its board.

The parent company of Men's Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Moores and K&G Fashion Superstore, said that Bob Hull is “stepping away” from his role as executive chairman of the board. As part of its succession plan, Sean Mahoney, board member and chair of the nominating and governance committee, will succeed him as chairman, effective May 3.

"The company wouldn't have realized such a successful transformation over the past four years or be positioned as well for future success without Bob's contributions on the board, and as co-CEO of the company, said Peter Sachse, CEO of Tailored Brands. “I want to thank him for his partnership and leadership.”

Separately, the company announced the appointment of Julie B. Rosen and Lewis L. (Lee) Bird III as members of its board, effective March of 2025. Most recently, Rosen served as president of Bath & Body Works, from 2020 to 2024. She also served in leadership roles at Ann Inc. and Gap,Inc. 

Most recently Bird recently served as chairman and CEO for value home décor retailer At Home Group.

“The addition of Julie and Lee underscores Tailored Brands' continued momentum and focus on the future, and I am confident their combined talent and expertise will help inform strategies to accelerate revenue growth and profitability," said Hull. "The board has never been stronger, and with Sean taking on an expanded role as chairman, I am confident we have the right combination of institutional expertise and fresh thinking to chart the path forward. “

Luxury apparel company Vince Holding Corp. has announced a change to its C-suite.

John Szczepanski is stepping down as CFO to pursue another opportunity, effective March 28, 2025. Yuji Okumura, Vince’s current VP, controller, will assume the role of interim CFO immediately following Szczepanski’s departure.

Szczepanski spent more than a year as CFO of Vince, joining the company after spending more than 18 years in various roles at Ralph Lauren.

Okumura has nearly two decades of experience in accounting and financial reporting. He has served as Vince’s VP, controller since 2020 after originally joining the organization in 2018 as its director of financial reporting. Prior to Vince, Okumura worked for over 11 years in public accounting at KPMG US.

“On behalf of the entire team, I want to thank John for his contributions and leadership during this transformative time in Vince’s history. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” said Brendan Hoffman, CEO of Vince, who returned to the helm of the company earlier this year after the chain was acquired by P180. “I have worked with Yuji previously and I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead our accounting and finance organization and ensure a seamless transition. Yuji brings valuable experience and a deep understanding of our financial operations that will be instrumental as we enter a new chapter for the company.”

[READ MORE: Ross announces CFO transition]

Founded in 2020, Vince operates 44 full-price retail stores, 14 outlet stores and an e-commerce site. It also is distributed through premium wholesale channels globally.

A new survey reveals the impact of artificial intelligence on how consumers shop digitally.

A majority of surveyed U.S. consumers have used AI tools to help them shop online, according to a study by customer experience personalization technology provider Bloomreach. Six-in-10 (61%) respondents have leveraged general purpose AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to help them shop online.

And more than 66% of respondents were at least somewhat familiar with AI assistants built specifically for shopping, such as Amazon Rufus, with 57% having used one in the past six to nine months and 42% becoming aware of these kinds of AI solutions in the past year.

Half of respondents said they would be more likely to use an AI assistant if it knew preferences such as size or style and used that data to personalize responses and recommendations. Time savings was the biggest benefit of AI shopping assistants cited by respondents, followed by easier navigation and better product recommendations.

[READ MORE: Survey: AI tool usage, trust up from last year among consumers]

How AI affects search

• Over the past 12 months, 54% of respondents felt their search habits becoming more conversational, incorporating more natural language.
• More than one-in-three respondents said they search e-commerce sites using questions (i.e. “What do I wear to a black-tie wedding as a 20-year-old woman?”).
• As their search habits have begun to change, 93% of respondents said it is important that e-commerce site search understands conversational queries.

An online survey was conducted from Jan. 29-Feb. 6, 2025 among 1,007 U.S. adults aged 18-50. The survey was administered through Propeller Insights.

There’s no let up in sight when to comes to online consumer spending.

Online consumer spending is set to reach $4.4 trillion in 2025, with the United States contributing $1.4 trillion, according to a study by technology research and advisory group Omdia. By 2029, the total is projected to surge to $6.6 trillion, with the U.S. accounting for $2 trillion of total online expenditure.

The report also noted that retail media and shoppable TV driving a transformation in how content, commerce and advertising intersect, creating new avenues for businesses to capitalize on. The integration of connected television (CTV), TV operating systems (TV OS) and retail media is creating seamless pathways from content consumption to purchase, unlocking new revenue streams for broadcasters, advertisers and retailers, according to Omdia.

“Shoppable TV presents a massive opportunity for retailers, advertisers, and content creators,” said Maria Rua Aguete, senior research director, Omdia. “However, challenges remain such as seamless checkout, consumer trust, and platform integration which must be addressed before its full potential is realized.” 

Companies that successfully integrate CTV, TV OS and retail media into their strategies will be well-positioned to capture significant market share and drive growth in the next era of digital commerce, the report said.