Happy Monday and Presidents’ Day.  If you have off today, enjoy it. 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:

• Gap profit tops estimates as Old Navy holiday sales increase. Link
• Moda Operandi raises another $60M. Link
• Michael Kors opens largest store in Soho. Link
• Yelp buys Eat24, an online food-ordering service for $134M. Link
• Urban Outfitters climbs on strong Q4 sales. Link
• Louis Vuitton shows logo isn’t dead as bags fly off shelves. Link
• Amazon’s newest tool lets anyone host giveaways online. Link
• Best Buy launches its first wedding registry. Link
• Adore Me takes on Victoria’s Secret and other bigger lingerie rivals. Link
• Jet.com raises $140M in new funding. Link
• Barney’s New York launches a print magazine. Link
• US retail sales decreased more than forecast in January. Link
• Banana Republic makes its fashion week debut. Link
• Timo Weiland eyes growth with first outside investment. Link
• Inside Levi’s comeback plans. Link
• Banana Republic, J.Crew invade fashion week to build cachet. Link
• Walmart expands online grocery shopping efforts after strong repeat business. Link
• Forever 21 arrives on Fifth Ave. Link

Social Media + Marketing:

• Pinterest cuts off style bloggers by removing affiliate links. Link
• Twitter to buy Niche, where social media stars meet advertisers. Link
• Netflix House of Cards leak wasn’t a marketing ploy. Link
• How style bloggers earn sales commissions one click at a time. Link
• Facebook adding relevance scores so marketers know how good their ads are. Link
• Marketing world says “meh” to Twitter’s ad syndication initiative. Link
• YouTube content networks preparing for a more programmatic ad world. Link
• Snapchat tries Our Stories for locals only. Link
• Forbes puts native ad for Fidelity on its actual cover. Link
• Pinterest working on a plan to introduce a buy button this year. Link

Start-ups:

• Social shopping app Depop raises $8M, plans to break into US market. Link
• Bucketfeet, a startup founded by a pair of backpackers, raises $7.5M. Link
• Clothing rental startup Le Tote lands $8.8M in funding. Link
• Bringg lets any business offer Uber-like experiences to their customers. Link
• Wedding planning startup Loverly launches its own dress collection based on user search data. Link
• Xiaomi becomes world’s most valuable tech startup. Link

International:

• [APAC]
  • India may become Launchpad for Amazon’s fashion label. Link
  • eCommerce sales in China will reach $1 Trillion by 2019. Link
  • Kate Spade to shut brand stores while forming China venture. Link
  • Alibaba’s AliExpress sets its sights on Indonesia’s promising ecommerce market. Link
  • Alibaba’s TMall global site stumbles. Link
• [EU]
  • British Fashion Council and eBay reprise London Fashion Week pop-up shop partnership. Link
  • European online retailer Zalando posts first annual operating profit. Link

Mobile, Tablet, + Wearables:

• Kanye West Adidas campaign lives on with in-store, app-dependent concert tickets. Link
• Placed wants to be the standard for measuring mobile ads and in-store visits. Link
• Aiming to ease app discovery, Apple pairs with Pinterest. Link
• First Dibs launches app. Link
• Swatch plans smartwatch to compete with Apple. Link
• Yahoo says mobile is key to new business sales goals. Link
• Visa’s new fraud protection software will track customers’ smartphones. Link

Other

• High-tech fashion redefines meaning of revealing clothing. Link
• Merchandise blended in digital and physical showcase. Link