With plans to double its North American footprint next year, Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo is making a play for some of the domain once held by struggling American retailers such as Gap.

“It’s interesting because Uniqlo now is probably what Gap should have been,” Neil Saunders, retail analyst for Global Data, told Retail Brew. “It’s taking market share from incumbent players like Gap.”

Why compare the two? Saunders noted that Uniqlo appears to be in expansion mode, while Gap is shrinking its footprint across the US. They are also a closer match than fast-fashion competitors such as Zara and H&M, he added, as they both focus on what he calls “elevated basics” rather than “highly fashionable” discount options.

• Gap Inc., parent company of Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta, has notably struggled to find its financial footing. As of the third quarter, net sales had dropped 7% year over year.

Meanwhile, Uniqlo is moving ahead with plans to expand even more outside of its home market in Japan and its large, well-established presence in China. The company currently has more than 2,400 stores worldwide, but just 53 stores in the US and 19 stores in Canada.

Keep reading here.—AV

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New internal data from Bank of America shows that its customers’ holiday spending in November was, as predicted, more concentrated around Black Friday this year.

The bank found that credit and debit card spending on holiday items in November was up 1% year over year. Customer spending was down YoY at the beginning of the month, but surged around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Based on Bank of America data for 2019 and 2022, 10% of all holiday spending usually takes place between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. That number was up 5% this year, with clothing and cosmetics, as well as air travel and event tickets, notably fueling the uptick. The increase happened despite the fact that many consumers started their holiday shopping as early as October.

Keep reading here.—AV

Before there were burgers in Jay Livingston’s life, there were bankers and boxes.

Prior to his job as CMO of Shake Shack, Livingston began his career at Bank of America, where he worked in marketing for more than 20 years. When he was searching for his next role, Livingston told us he was looking for three things: a “consumer-facing brand that makes a physical product that brings people joy.” That led him to become the CMO of Bark, which oversees BarkBox, where he remained for almost two years before joining Shake Shack.

Now, with nearly five years under his belt at the fast-casual chain, Livingston said he’s proud of the work he and his team have done to build out the brand’s social presence, PR strategy, and in-house design.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KH

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