Charlie Sheen Launches Non-Alc Brand, Spirit Halloween Doubles Down on Christmas, & More
Consumer VC Roundup #137 – Latest News in Emerging Consumer Brands, Tech & Commerce Enablement From the Week of September 29th
Hey everyone,
I hope you had a great week. This week, we’re going to be launching a new series for premium subscribers called Talking Shop. Be on the lookout for it tomorrow 😉
Consumer VC Live Summit • Austin, TX • October 16th
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Additionally, if you're a fan of CPG, my friend Amrit Richmond has just released Brand Prix: A History of Indie Food & Beverage M&A — featuring 450+ deals across 25 years. Highly recommend checking it out and subscribing.
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This Week In Consumer
📰 Consumer News📰
Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC allegations that it used deceptive tactics to push Prime memberships and make cancellations difficult, though the company admitted no wrongdoing. RD
Trump announced new tariffs set to begin Oct. 1, including 50% on kitchen cabinets and vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture, 100% on branded pharmaceuticals, and 25% on heavy trucks, citing national security under Section 232. RD
The SEC has sued Retail Ecommerce Ventures founders Tai Lopez and Alexander Mehr, accusing them of running a $112M Ponzi scheme tied to bankrupt retailers like Modell’s, Pier 1 Imports and RadioShack, alleging they misled investors, misused $16M for personal expenses, and never turned a profit. RTP
Trump signed an executive order allowing TikTok and TikTok Shop to keep operating in the U.S. if ByteDance cuts its stake to 20%, with control shifting to U.S. investors like Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, and U.S. user data stored domestically; the ban is delayed until January 2026 pending a final deal. RTP
Asahi Group Holdings reported a cyberattack on its Japan operations on Sept. 29, causing a “system failure,” according to a brief company statement. JD
🧃Consumer Brands👚
Genesco Inc., owner of Journeys, has merged its Journeys, Schuh, and Little Burgundy teen brands into the new Journeys Global Retail Group. Andy Gray, former Journeys president and longtime Foot Locker executive, is the group’s CEO, while Chris Santaella, also from Foot Locker, is chief merchant. RD
Luxury beauty retailer Cos Bar has been acquired by Mitchell Family Office, a Birmingham, Mich.-based private investment firm, after a planned deal with Violet Grey fell through. The acquisition, Mitchell’s first in beauty retail, comes as nearly half of beauty sales shift online. BI
Victoria’s Secret has launched a Home Fragrance collection featuring nine scents in candles, sprays, soaps, and diffusers, available online and in select stores in the U.S. and abroad, marking the brand’s expansion into the growing home fragrance market. RD
Michaels has launched The Knit & Sew Shop and The Party Shop across its 1,300 stores, expanding fabric, yarn, and party assortments as it capitalizes on Joann and Party City’s bankruptcies. RD
Spirit Christmas, a spinoff of Spirit Halloween, is opening 30 pop-up stores this holiday season — nearly four times last year’s count. New features include free Santa visits at select locations, paid photo sessions, and the immersive Peppermint Village with décor, gifts, and interactive displays. RD
Charlie Sheen is back after a seven-year hiatus with three major projects: a Netflix documentary, a memoir titled The Book of Sheen, and the launch of his non-alcoholic beer, Wild AF. FB
JonnyPops is rolling out the first-ever freeze-dried popsicles, available in three flavors: strawberries & cream, raspberries, blueberries & cream, and mangos & cream. The crunchy, melt-free, shelf-stable snacks are made with fruit, cream, cane sugar, water, and salt. They’ll be sold at select Target, Sprouts, Fresh Thyme, and Fred Meyer stores, with more retailers to come. FBN
Costco, following an 8% sales increase in fiscal 2025, plans to open 35 new warehouse stores by August 2026, including five relocations, bringing its total beyond the current 914 locations. RTP
Aldi is launching its first namesake brand and refreshing packaging across its stores, renaming several private labels under the Aldi name and adding an “Aldi Original” endorsement, with the rollout beginning now and continuing over the next two years. RTP
Ikea is launching a NYC pop-up called the “Year of Cooking and Eating” from Oct. 2-26, featuring food-themed activities, tastings and kitchen planning, while also partnering with Vanguard Renewables to divert restaurant food waste and rolling out 200 new food-related products over the next year. RTP
Smriti Khullar, with experience at Monolith, Google, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson, has launched a new lip care brand that microdoses wellness into daily routines, making self-care feel effortless instead of overwhelming. BI
Swim USA, maker of Miraclesuit, is launching its first skincare brand, Aeston West, on Oct. 8. Aimed at Gen X women, the line debuts with three products ($58–$98) featuring the patent-pending ingredient Cellevitae. Developed by beauty veterans, Aeston West focuses on simplicity, accessibility, and direct-to-consumer sales. BI
UK wellness brand Ancient + Brave has entered the US via Amazon and DTC with collagen supplements priced $46–$68. Founded in 2018, it grew to nearly $27M in 2024 sales and projects $54M this year, focusing on transparent EU sourcing and targeting women 40–55 while aiming to expand its reach. BI
Pacifica Beauty has rebranded as founder Brook Harvey-Taylor steps down as CEO, transitioning to a creative role, while Eric Reiter of Brentwood Associates takes over as interim CEO. BI
Amazon will close 14 UK Fresh stores and convert five into Whole Foods locations as it shifts focus to grocery delivery. By 2026, Whole Foods will have 12 UK stores, including a new Greater London site and the recently opened Chelsea location. RTP
Starbucks will cut 900 non-retail jobs and close underperforming U.S. and Canadian stores as part of a $1 billion restructuring, shrinking its North American footprint by 1% to about 18,300 locations in fiscal 2025 before resuming growth in 2026. RTP
Drew Barrymore’s makeup brand Flower Beauty has officially closed. BI
Madame Lemy founder Holly Eve is shutting down her natural deodorant brand to protect her mental health after years of tariff hikes, supply chain issues, lost sales, and mounting stress. Despite achieving seven-figure sales since its 2018 launch, Eve chose to close the business, pivot to consulting, and focus on her memoir and mental health advocacy, saying no brand was worth risking her life. BI
💻Consumer Software💻
Depop has introduced Outfits, a new in-app collage tool that lets users style, save, and share shoppable looks using items from its resale marketplace, with more features planned in the coming months. RD
Hertz Global has launched a fully online car-buying marketplace, building on its partnership with Amazon Autos to sell preowned vehicles. The platform also offers customers trade-in options, and the company’s shares rose 2.5% following the news. RT
Microsoft has partnered with AI-powered commerce platform Curated for You to integrate fashion discovery into Copilot, enabling users to receive context-aware, shoppable product curations from retailers like Revolve, Steve Madden, Tuckernuck, Rent the Runway, and Lulus. RD
Thanks for reading!