Hello! Was taking a break in Vermont over the weekend, so apologies for the delay. Below is a recap I compiled of industry news over the last week.  All sources can be found in the hyper-linked text after the headline.

Retailer + Brand News:

• Wallpaper Magazine dives into ecommerce. Link
• Lululemon founder steps down from board. Link
• Target to open 15 Target Express stores this year. Link
• Macy’s buys Bluemercury. Link
• Amazon opens brick-and-mortar campus store. Link
• Madewell inks deal with Nordstrom. Link
• Under Armour releases 2014 results, acquires two more fitness apps. Link
• Ralph Lauren plans new global band management structure. Link
• Kate Spade Saturday: A downmarket move goes bust. Link
• Zulily to hit one billion dollars in sales in 2014. Link
• Gap merges ecommerce and marketing in new executive position. Link
• Macy’s program helps cultivate retail entrepreneurs. Link
• Change for the better at Neiman Marcus. Link
• Lucky Magazine launches shops, its new ecommerce venture. Link
• Fab.com’s fire sale should close this month. Link
• Lifestyle brands are acquiring their way to becoming tech companies. Link
• Frank & Oak expands personal stylist feature. Link
• Gap, Aeropostale raise outlook for holiday period. Link
• Old Navy teams with Current Elliott. Link
• BCBG gets $135M in cash infusion. Link
• eBay’s innovation and new ventures group hit hard by layoffs in restructuring. Link

Social Media + Marketing:

• Tinder shuts down Gap’s pants party campaign because it violated terms of service. Link
• Imgur unleashes subscription-only pro editing tool for all users. Link
• Burberry joins with Line to live stream show in Japan. Link
• Four video startups looking to challenge YouTube’s dominance. Link
• Twitter to sell ads on Flipboard and Yahoo Japan. Link
• American Express Apple Pay ad turns out to be a fun trip through time. Link
• Tumblr ad executive stepping down as Yahoo combines teams. Link
• Revenue at Twitter rises but user growth slows. Link
• Twitter and Google said to reach deal on Search. Link
• Twitter user growth falls below Facebook’s for the first time. Link

Start-ups:

• These companies are trying to disrupt Men’s Wearhouse. Link
• Trellie is launching a smart jewelry starter kit this spring with dozens of accessories. Link
• Andreessen Horowitz taps into thriving world of programmers. Link

International:

• [APAC]
  • TopShop to close all Japanese stores. Link
  • FedEx express to increase ground fleet capacity in India. Link
  • Alibaba tries out drone delivery in China. Link
  • Line buys Stripe-like Japanese startup WebPay to boost its payments service. Link
  • Qualcomm fined $975M by China. Link
• [CA]
  • Target and landlords in court battle over sale of leases. Link
• [EU]
  • Hem acquires online design portal, Discipline.eu. Link

Mobile, Tablet, + Wearables:

• ApplePay and JetBlue strike first airline deal. Link
• Adidas gets ready for Kanye collaboration with new sneaker reservation app. Link
• iOS 9 leak reveals Apple’s new focus. Link
• Eight out of ten retailers increasing mobile budgets in 2015. Link
• Michael Kors to join wearable tech movement. Link
• Apple’s iOS9 pegged as a stability update, which is way better than a feature frenzy. Link
• Apple grabs 93% of the handset industry’s profit. Link
• Samsung to launch a new Galaxy smartphone on March 1^st. Link

Other

• Uber opening robotics research facility in Pittsburgh to build self-driving cars. Link
• Apple to open giant data center in Arizona. Link
• Q&A with Amazon Prime boss on the program’s 10^th Link