For Bayard Winthrop, it didn’t all start with a hoodie. It started with an idea.

About 15 years ago, Winthrop, who is in his mid-50s today, had a notion of starting a clothing brand manufactured entirely in the US that evoked garments he fell in love with as a kid, when much of Americans’ wardrobes were still produced by US workers in US mills and factories.

“I had this sort of overly simplistic idea of wanting to do an American-made, high-quality clothing company that was reminiscent of the great American brands like Levi’s and Red Wing and …Wrangler and Champion and Woolrich,” Winthrop told Retail Brew.

At first he considered launching this nascent brand, American Giant, with a US-sourced and -manufactured flannel shirt, jeans, or T-shirt. But with so many domestic clothing brands having moved their production offshore, the task proved Sisyphean.

“Back then, the flannel shirt and the denim just felt way too complicated to do as like one guy trying to start a company,” Winthrop said. “And the T-shirt didn’t feel substantial enough, so I almost backed into a sweatshirt as being the thing.”

Just the thing, as it turned out.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Year-end bonuses for employees of small businesses rose an average of 11.5% in December over 2024, from $2,502 to $2,709, according to a new report from Gusto, the payroll and benefits platform. But the retail sector lagged behind, with bonuses dipping from an average of $1,597 to $1,516, a 5.1% drop.

Gusto defines small businesses as those with fewer than 50 employees.

Among the 15 small-biz sectors Gusto measured, retail was one of only four where the bonuses didn’t increase over the previous year. Only one sector, education, saw a steeper decline, with its average year-end bonuses dipping 10.2%, from $1,538 to $1,381.

While those bonuses for retail were smaller, more workers got them, with 18.5% scoring an end-of-year bump, compared to 17.4% in 2024. That puts the retail sector slightly above the average for the breadth of employees who got bonuses, with the average among all sectors rising to 18%, from 16.7% in 2024.

Keep reading here.—AAN

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Garry E. Adams is CEO, CCIM, CPA at commercial real estate company Capital Reality.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? We help brands with their real estate. Think of us as a matchmaker for brands and buildings. We connect retail concepts with the ideal location, balancing consumer behavior, real estate strategy, and financial precision. It’s less about selling products and services and more about identifying environments where commerce flourishes.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? That I have likely negotiated retail leases in more states than most people can identify on a map. Retail is not just about malls and high streets. It is about being where people move, pause, and spend. My office might be an airport terminal in LA one day and the high streets of NYC the next.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Launching over 300 new locations for national brands was thrilling. Helping emerging beauty and fashion brands scale from LA to the East Coast—that was like guiding a startup from garage band to Grammy winner!

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? Experiential retail—where shopping meets storytelling. Stores are becoming immersive brand experiences.

Keep reading here.—EC

Gen Alpha doesn’t need wallets to move markets. Nearly half of household spending in the US and UK is now influenced by the youngest generation. Explore what shapes their opinions, why friends and family matter more than ads, and how brands may need to rethink how they reach tomorrow’s consumers.