Fashion in the News: May 31st, 2019

Everyone from Abercrombie & Fitch to FedEx is making headlines this week, and here's why.

Stock Market

First up to bat is Abercrombie & Fitch, otherwise known as your middle school closet's dream-come-true. The stock went down 26% on May 29th after announcing they would be closing 40 retail stores, including flagship stores in Asia, Europe, and NYC. This is the worst loss since 1996 when the firm first went public. Other firms that took a hit? Luxury brand Canada Goose and luxury goods group Capri Holdings (formerly Michael Kors) also saw significant slumps in their stocks.

“Fashion lost $2.9B in value in 1 day.” -Robinhood Snacks

Why does this matter? While many would easily attribute these retail failures to the growing e-commerce presence, these firms cited alternative reasons why earnings were down. As participants in the market, we have to remind ourselves to read the fine print and understand exactly why companies are or aren't achieving success rather than make assumptions.

FedEx to Ship 7 Days a Week

Due to the dramatic increase in online shopping, FedEx has announced it will now ship 7 days a week starting in January 2020. To underscore how significant this change is, it was only last September that FedEx expanded to delivering on Saturdays. Less than a year later, the shipping company has already made decisions to increase efficiency and expand their workload by adding a seventh delivery day. These changes manifest the power of e-commerce and where the future of shopping is headed.