I’m back! Industry news from the last week is below.  Sources in the hyperlinked text after the headline. Have a great week!

Brand/Retailer:

• ModCloth’s new line, new CEO offer fresh start. Link
• Yahoo buys Polyvore for more than $200M. Link
• Apple swaps online ‘store’ for ‘buy’ buttons. Link
• Sephora launching beauty box subscription service. Link
• Brad Goreski will sell C.Wonder on QVC as its new creative director. Link
• Alibaba to buy back $4B of stock after share price rout. Link
• Inditex surge takes Zara owner’s market value past $100B. Link
• How Olivia Kim is teaching Nordstrom to think small. Link
• Lime Crime slapped with FDA warning for ‘unsafe’ lipstick. Link
• NBC Universal invests $200M in Vox Media. Link
• Ellen Degeneres’ lifestyle brand is coming to Bergdorf Goodman in September. Link
• Google launches new company, Alphabet. Link
• Target tiptoes into grocery delivery. Link
• Restoration Hardware is going to sell fancy furniture for teenagers. Link
• Zalando raises annual sales forecast after strong second quarter. Link
• Old Navy delivers another win for Gap’s July comps. Link
• Online sales leading toward smaller, urban warehouses. Link
• Warby Parker signs on to Nordstrom’s pop-up concept. Link

Marketing/Social:

• Facebook joins the live-streaming crowd with a service for celebrities. Link
• Instagram takes on growing role in the art market. Link
• Facebook reverses plan to limit data for advertisers. Link
• Comcast is about to launch a major video platform called Watchable to rival Facebook and Google. Link
• Amazon tweaks ads on its site, in possible challenge to Google. Link
• Inside Taco Bell’s Snapchat strategy. Link
• Levi’s latest campaign seeks to make denim look cool again. Link
• Target to have shoppable ads in Vogue’s September issue. Link

Startups:

• Snapdeal will invest $100M in its research arm over the next three years. Link
• Will ‘Uber for Models’ disrupt the industry? Link
• Why Time Inc invested in visual search engine Snap Fashion. Link
• Jessica Alba’s startup, Honest, valued at $1.7B. Link

International:

• Alibaba lands Macy’s as first U.S. department store for its online portal. Link
• As Macy’s eyes China, some see need for focus at home. Link
• Beauty without borders as South Korean products sell in America. Link
• How Nordstrom is avoiding a Target-style collapse in Canada. Link
• How Western fashion brands are using social media in China. Link
• Smartphone shopping offers big opportunities in Indonesia. Link
• Rural Chinese villagers are the hot new ecommerce market. Link
• Five reasons India will become the world’s next ecommerce giant. Link
• Ikea opens concept store in Abu Dhabi. Link
• Hudson’s Bay sets sites on Europe. Link

Mobile/Emerging Tech:

• Google wires San Antonio for fiber-optic internet. Link
• In a shift, Rite Aid to accept Apple and Google mobile payments. Link
• Apple looking at facial recognition for easing photo-sharing. Link
• Web retailers, now with stores, teach new tricks. Link
• Google: Going mobile only is fine for our search results. Link