| A Weekly PropTech Newsletter bringing you industry updates from across the real estate spectrum |
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| Welcome to 2026, dear readers! After a brief disconnect from work, we are heading into the new year feeling recharged and excited for the year ahead and all that it might bring! And while we usually get most excited about cutting edge technologies and how to most strategically implement them for retail property owners, our holiday slow down reminded us that we can’t ignore the basics too. With all the talk of Generative AI, it can be easy to feel like that must be where everyone is at. But that’s indeed not true for everyone! If you’re like The Athlete’s Foot, and just getting up on e-commerce, or are still working to bring some of your other technologies up to snuff, that is important work too! Everything that comes after will work better and have a better ROI if the foundation is strong. So whether you’re starting with the basics, or ready for the latest and greatest, we’re here for you and would love to work together. Let’s chat!
This week we read about some unexpected retailers expanding their physical footprints in 2026, how the economy is impacting high and low end retailers, and why a big brand is coming back to Amazon after a 6 year pause. If you aren’t already, follow us on LinkedIn to make sure that you don’t miss anything from us this year! |
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| Nike to resume selling directly on Amazon for first time since 2019 [CNBC] Nike confirmed on Wednesday that its shoes are returning to Amazon. The company stopped selling its goods wholesale on Amazon six years ago as part of a push to distribute more directly to customers and maintain greater control over the experience.
Smarter and Faster: How Gen AI Is Already Changing In-Store Retail Operations [Retail TouchPoints] Generative AI adoption is estimated to deliver between $240 billion and $390 billion in economic value for retailers in the coming years. Further, 71% of retail executives expect consumers to increase their use of Gen AI for shopping this year. But are retailers prepared to capitalize on this potential?
TikTok Shop is driving social commerce growth [RetailDive] TikTok is driving social commerce growth, with TikTok Shop making up nearly 20% of social commerce in 2025. TikTok Shop’s sales are forecast to exceed $20 billion in 2026 and surpass $30 billion in 2028. In 2026, half of U.S. social shoppers are projected to make purchases on TikTok. |
| The Athlete’s Foot launches US e-commerce site in quest to build a more unified brand [ModernRetail] As the holiday season comes to a close, most retailers have been focused on driving as many sales as possible through their e-commerce sites. But The Athlete’s Foot has a different focus than most: It has spent this December soft-launching its U.S. e-commerce site.
A look at retail’s year of AI news [RetailDive] There was no shortage of AI-related announcements from retailers in 2025. From mass retailers to apparel brands, companies across the industry laid bare their efforts to utilize — and adapt to — AI internally and in consumer-facing ways.
‘Moving even faster’: Target is stockpiling raw material and using AI to capitalize on trends as they come [Glossy] Trends today move faster than ever. And being able to jump on a trend the moment — or, better yet, before — it becomes popular is fashion’s Holy Grail. But design, sampling and production are all time-consuming processes. So, how can a brand stay on top of trends? |
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| Placer.ai: Thrift, luxury store visits rose in 2025 [Chain Store Age] Traditional apparel chains were outpaced by two sectors on opposite ends of the cost spectrum when it came to store visits this year. Foot traffic at thrift stores and luxury chains increased compared to traditional apparel this year, with thrift stores especially seeing large jumps in foot traffic. Outside of February, visits to thrift stores were up more than 5% compared to last year in each month from January to November.
FAO Schwarz Entices Toy Shoppers With the One Thing They Can’t Get Online [The Wall Street Journal] Retailers are counting on personal, premium experiences like Chiaberta’s tour as an antidote for physical stores sickened by the ascendance of shopping on the internet. For struggling bricks-and-mortar chains, the experiences promise to lure consumers away from their screens, buoying sales at shops that have lost relevance—and revenue—in the age of e-commerce. |
| Zales launches new store concept, The Edit, to boost revenue and court young shoppers [ModernRetail] The format, called The Edit, involves a more open layout, consultation areas and rotating product display zones. There’s a big emphasis on personalization, with a charm bar and a customization studio for shoppers to design their own jewelry. There’s also a focus on digital shopping, with an app called Z Curator that customers can use to build “digital trays.”
Pacsun opens first US stores in nearly 20 years as foot traffic picks up [RetailDive] The apparel retailer, which is also expanding abroad for the first time next year, sees its physical locations as “cultural touchpoints.” Pacsun continues “its most ambitious domestic retail expansion in nearly two decades,” with plans to open 20 to 35 stores in the U.S. over the next three years, capitalizing on what it says has been double-digit growth in foot traffic. |
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| Barnes & Noble opened 67 bookstores in 2025, a recent record. Now it’s plotting another year of expansion [Fast Company] Barnes & Noble is on a roll, and it’s not slowing down in 2026. The bookstore has confirmed plans to open 60 new locations across the country in 2026. For Barnes & Noble, the move is part of a major comeback that’s been years in the works. |
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