California Apparel News

The Conference Board, a nonprofit business research group and think tank, is well known for charting consumer sentiment with its influential Consumer Confidence Index. On Jan. 2, The Conference Board released a survey of chief executives around the globe with findings showing the biggest concern of C-suite executives is economic recession. The survey polled executives in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. For the second year in a row, CEOs around the world ranked recession as their top external worry. For U.S. CEOs, recession rose from being their third largest concern in 2019 to their top concern for 2020. In December, the UCLA Anderson School of Management changed a forecast in which it predicted that there would be an economic slowdown in 2020. The school’s economists said that while there is still a risk of a slowdown, strong consumer spending had pushed back economic doldrums.

Toms Shoes LLC, headquartered in Los Angeles, has ceded control of the footwear company to its creditors after credit-rating agencies warned that Tom’s would not be able to repay a $300-million loan that was due, according to media reports. Creditors such as Jefferies Financial Group, Inc., Nexus Capital and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. will take over ownership from Toms founder Blake Mycoskie and private-equity firm Bain Capital. Toms made a splash after starting in 2006 with a focus on a charitable business model. For every pair of Toms footwear sold, the company would donate a pair of shoes to a child in need.

My Size, Inc., an Israeli company, will exhibit a new body-measurement technology at the National Retail Federation’s Retail’s Big Show, which will take place Jan. 12–14 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. My Size will specifically take body measurements with a smartphone sensor, not a camera. Taking measurements with smartphone sensors will provide more accurate information than other methods, according to a My Size statement. The company projects that by using My Size’s measurement system, digital retailers will be able to reduce the amount of consumer returns.

Pointr, based in London, announced that its Deep Location Platform would be sold in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, which offers applications and services for use on the Azure cloud. The platform allows stores, malls and other venue operators to offer location-based services to visitors. Through this technology, managers of these venues will understand how visitors interact with their spaces and thereby improve the efficiency of their operations. Location-based services are often offered through a mobile phone to help people navigate spaces.

PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, announced that it would donate $1 million to New York–based Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Management, which is the alma mater of Chairman and CEO Manny Chirico. It will establish a center for the study of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. The center will seek to build relationships between industry and academia to develop and build sustainability curriculum.