Retail (Short Copycats)

Bon-Ton Stores is beginning to look a lot like Toys R Us. Meanwhile, we've previously discussed Appear Here here and here. Now Simon Property Group ($SPG) is dedicating pop-up space in certain of its locations. It's a brilliant move, frankly: this plan lets digitally-native-vertical-brands test physical locations; it could also be accretive to SPG as they can generate buzz that couples with the DNVBs' online communities/networks to bring e-commerce shoppers to physical locations; it also gives SPG early looks at potential retail investment opportunities. Meanwhile, the knock against Abercrombie & Fitch and other retailers was that millennials didn't want to be human billboards rocking an A&F sweatshirt with 485-font lettering on the front. That is, unless you show em the paycheck. Now you can get paid for walking around big cities with Ipad-based advertisements on your back. Seems like a nice supplemental income for our friends in NYC.