Modern Retail Podcast: Dr. Squatch gets bought, Parachute store closures and a mid-year check in on 2025’s biggest stories
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On this week’s Modern Retail Podcast, senior reporters Melissa Daniels and Gabriela Barkho begin with a rundown of this week’s news. Kicking things off is an analysis of Unilever’s $1.5 billion acquisition of men’s personal care brand Dr. Squatch. Next is a look at DTC bedding brand Parachute closing the majority of its stores to refocus on e-commerce and core products. Finally, a roundup of all the sales retailers are launching to compete with Prime Day(s), including deals from Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s.
Then for this week’s featured segment, they get into some of the biggest forces shaping retail this year. There are a number of external factors impacting brands and many changing consumer behaviors, which have led to a challenging environment — May’s spending figures showed a slowdown and declining consumer confidence. Daniels and Barkho get into the trends shaping this environment like the deal-hungry shoppers, boycotts and — of course — tariff policy.