Happy Monday! Industry news from the last week is below.  Sources in the hyperlinked text after the headline. Have a great week!

Brand/Retailer:

• Amazon rolls out 1-hour alcohol delivery service. Link
• Free People surpasses H&M, Zara and Forever 21 as top destination for college girls. Link
• Best Buy’s store-within-a-store bet is paying off. Link
• Amazon curtails development of consumer devices. Link
• Abercrombie & Fitch ditches logo, targets grown-ups. Link
• Why J.Crew decided to ditch high fashion. Link
• Tiffany profit misses estimates after currency weighs on sales. Link
• Aeropostale reports Q2 loss. Link
• Abercrombie & Fitch shares jump after earnings top estimates. Link
• The Outnet turns to beauty. Link
• Gap Inc. eliminates on-call scheduling. Link
• H&M creates a grant for innovations in clothing recycling. Link
• Days numbered for barcodes as shoppers demand more data. Link
• At test Target cafes, hot dogs out, salads in. Link
• Foot Locker CEO: ‘Casualization’ trend is here to stay. Link
• In new Amazon Prime program, not all goods arrive in two days. Link
• Why Converse decided to mess with success. Link

Marketing/Social:

• Instagram moves beyond the square. Link
• Aerie sees sales jump after abandoning airbrushing. Link
• What Instagram’s new formats may mean for marketers. Link
• Gisele dances in Stuart Weitzman’s first-ever commercial. Link
• & Other Stories launches slightly obscure collaboration with new Instagram account. Link
• YouTube gaming set to launch with upgraded live-streaming feature. Link
• Facebook and Google want you to do more with those photos. Link
• Forever21 targets older millennials and they’re using celebrities to do it. Link

Startups:

• Forget Etsy, app Tictail wants to democratize ecommerce. Link
• An ex-Apple engineer takes on the furniture industry with couches you can FedEx. Link

International:

• Hermes first-half profit jumps 20% on faster Japan sales growth. Link
• GST to apply to all Australian overseas purchase from July 2017. Link
• Netflix partners with Softbank for Japan launch. Link
• Suffering at home, Bebe pushes into China. Link
• Torrid to open first international store in Canada. Link
• Saks to open its first Off 5^th in Western Canada. Link

Mobile/Emerging Tech:

• Facebook tests digital assistant for its messaging app. Link
• Etsy’s mobile app lets you locate local artisans on-the-go. Link
• Google Maps goes after Yelp, Waze with added features. Link
• Walgreens new app anticipates users’ needs with intelligent messaging. Link
• Silicon Valley to get a manufacturing innovation institute. Link
• Why WhatsApp bombed in the US, while Snapchat and Kik blew up. Link
• Apple lines up September 9^th event, seen unveiling new iPhones. Link
• LG tracks Apple with ‘urbane’ luxury smartwatch. Link
• Amazon boosts its artificial intelligence chops. Link
• Target’s Cartwheel app drives 10% more offer downloads via personalization. Link