It’s a perfect spring morning in New York, one of those rarest of days when, against all odds, this rat buffet of a city smells good, like lilacs and azaleas and whatever else is blooming in community gardens, parks, and window boxes.

But it’s another type of flower—cannabis—that’s the draw on East 3rd Street in the East Village, just steps away from the Bowery. We’ve come for a preview tour of Gotham, which opened its doors a few days later, on May 11, making it one of five licensed cannabis stores open in the city.

We’ve been checking in with Gotham for months after we started this series with a look at the hurdles it would face as a cannabis business:

• Under a federal drug law, 280E, cannabis businesses pay tax rates “that can eclipse 70%,” Politico reported.
• Gotham and other licensed stores in the US generally don’t accept credit cards, because credit-card companies won’t permit cannabis sales, leaving customers to pay with cash or debit cards.
• Cannabis retailers also face challenges such as banking, point-of-sale systems, and in New York, more than 1,400 stores operating without a license.

Pot-ery barn: Step into the vast 2,800-square-foot store, which was designed by Cinema Vitae and features unfinished concrete floors and dramatic lighting fixtures, and shoppers might be surprised to not immediately see the most newsworthy item: cannabis.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Retailers and brands are facing some pretty sizable challenges these days. The trick to staying on top and crushing all your channels? Two words: unified platform. Siloed solutions cost time and $$$—one consolidated, integrated platform is *chef’s kiss* perfect.

That’s where Listrak comes in. As a leading customer engagement platform trusted by brands like TOMS and Sol de Janeiro, they can help you drive engagement and reduce spend by orchestrating marketing across all channels: email, SMS, push notifications, and identity resolution.

Listrak’s new Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ study revealed how beneficial their tools can be to a biz. Interviewed clients saw:

• a 45% increase in email-driven revenue
• a 40% increase in SMS-driven revenue
• 20% time savings for the campaign team
• 35% reduced marketing-tool spend

Wanna start acing the marketing game? Read the study.

Spring weddings are in full swing, but unfortunately for David’s Bridal, things might be shutting down. If you’ve been keeping up with retail news lately (or glanced at our SKUs section) over the past few weeks, you probably know the wedding dress retailer known for its affordable prices and wide range of choices, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy…again.

You read that right: the second time since 2018. The retailer will also lay off 9,326 employees over four months, but will continue to honor outstanding orders while its stores remain open. Meanwhile, it will continue to explore sale options for all or some of its assets.

Since emerging from bankruptcy and restructuring its debt in 2019, David’s Bridal has focused on modernizing its business, which includes its marketing and retail strategies. It has also gone beyond serving its quintessential wedding customer by introducing lines for life events such as quinceañeras and proms.

“For us, it’s really giving that customer who is middle America that value,” David’s Bridal CMO Nancy Viall previously told Retail Brew about the quinceañera label. “We are vertically integrated, and we’re able to extend innovation and style and really have inclusiveness so that it’s not representing anyone’s line that you can get at all these different boutiques.”

Experience this: And while that seemed to have resonated with some consumers, its core wedding business likely suffered after the pandemic forced the retailer to shutter stores.

Keep reading here.—JS

Etsy’s finally tying the knot.

The e-commerce platform has introduced a wedding registry that allows couples to register for personalized handmade and vintage items.

In the last three months, the company has seen an 872% YoY increase in searches for handmade gifts, it said in a statement, claiming couples are shying away from traditional wedding presents. Additionally, Etsy says its registry makes sense, as discretionary spending plummets amid rising inflation.

• In addition to gifts, Etsy has seen a bump in searches for floral wedding dresses (+78%), 3D flower veils (+35%), 3D flower dresses (+32%), and vintage wedding bands (+25%).
• Meanwhile, the company has seen a 71% drop in searches for solitaire engagement rings and a 48% decrease in diamond engagement rings.

Something new: The move comes as thousands of couples have dropped Bed Bath & Beyond from their registries, while wedding registry platform Zola is looking to pounce and grab some of BB&B’s customers. Given the vacuum, Etsy stands to pick up some customers of its own.

Keep reading here.—KM

Today’s top retail reads.

Shining brighter: Despite competition from LVMH-owned Tiffany, Cartier sales continue to be robust, as the luxury jewelry brand remains popular in China. (the Wall Street Journal)

Taking notice: As Indian beauty brands rooted in ayurvedic practices grow in popularity among local consumers, global brands like L’Oréal and Puig are eyeing India as a beauty hotspot. (Vogue Business)

Safety: Malls and stores have increasingly become the scene of mass shootings. (Retail Dive)

Three of the stories below are real...and one is most definitely not. Can you spot the fake?

1. Starbucks will charge customers extra for Refreshers ordered with “no water.”
2. Coke will debut a seafood soda this summer called Coca-Cola Sea.
3. The Italian government held a “crisis meeting” over rising pasta prices.
4. A Flamin’ Hot Cheetos movie is coming to theaters.

Keep reading for the answer.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Working conditions in US factories where clothes are made
• QSRs had a strong first quarter
• Wayfair’s customer experience analysis may soon run on AI