Retail Brew // Morning Brew // Update

March 23, 2026

It’s Monday, and here’s great news if you’re tired of your grandparents complaining that your sneakers are too casual for formal occasions. A new version of Air Jordan low-tops, “Suit and Tie,” has a crisp shirt collar around the top of the shoe, a little polka-dot tie that covers the laces, and a gold “Jumpman” logo on the tie. In truth, they don’t look like something adults would wear…but that didn’t hold Crocs back, did it?

In today’s edition:

—Erin Cabrey, Alex Vuocolo

STORES

Up to speed

Sephora

Ten years ago, Sephora debuted Accelerate, an incubator program supporting early-stage women founders. The program has since produced 41 graduates, with more than half launching at Sephora, including skin care brands Eadem and Topicals, and makeup brand Kulfi.

The program’s revamp in 2021 to center on BIPOC-founded brands helped Sephora more than triple its Black-owned brand assortment. While major beauty retailers including Target, Amazon, and Kohl’s have rolled back some DEI efforts over the past year, Sephora and Ulta Beauty are among those that largely haven’t waivered. Per Sephora’s 2025 DE&I Heart Journey Report, Sephora Accelerate remains a pillar of its retail-focused DEI efforts, along with the $100,000 Sephora Beauty Grant, created with the 15 Percent Pledge to support underrepresented beauty founders, awarded to Accelerate graduate MAED last month.

While marketing for the 2026 incubator, which opened applications earlier this month, notes those of all backgrounds may apply, “the heart of the program is to improve diversity in our brand community,” Global Chief Merchandising Officer Priya Venkatesh told Retail Brew.

Over the program’s 10 years, Sephora has fine-tuned its curriculum to prime brands for success, with newly added content centering on team-building, financial management, and scaling, and long-term growth. Speaking with Retail Brew, Venkatesh reflected on the past decade of Sephora Accelerate and its impact on founders and the retailer itself.

Keep reading here.—EC

Presented By Bazaarvoice

Navigate the path to purchase with ease

AI can turn the path to purchase into a digital maze, but with a clearly defined roadmap, you can streamline the customer journey and transform this complex issue into a competitive advantage.

That’s where Bazaarvoice comes in. They’ve shared their proven framework at Bazaarvoice Summit 2026, and now, you can sit back, relax, and watch the entire recap of it.

Learn how to make content accessible, authentic, and abundant—the foundation for visibility in an AI-driven marketplace. The sessions from Bazaarvoice Summit offer a clear vision: Use real customer content as your growth engine to move beyond AI hype and into action.

Access the sessions on demand.

OPERATIONS

True values

Patty_c/Getty Images

Two major retailers are cutting prices once again, while also signaling that reductions are either winding down or won’t be their sole focus in the year ahead.

Michaels is lowering its everyday price on more than 3,000 items across categories including arts and crafts, home decor, and its new The Party Shop and The Knit & Sew Shop, which were stood up last year after the closures of Party City and Joann’s.

The move follows an even bigger round of price cuts nearly two years ago, when the company cut prices on more than 5,000 items. The cuts were also steeper, ranging from 15%–40%, whereas the average for this round is 10%.

The company said the latest price reductions “represent the final phase of a value-driven initiative that has been rolled out over the past several months.”

Target, meanwhile, is slashing price tags on 3,000 items, with a focus on what’s on trend this spring in the apparel, home assortment, baby essentials, and select food and beverages.

Keep reading here.—AV

RETAIL

Talking shop

Shoptalk

Shoptalk Spring is coming to Las Vegas this week with a stacked lineup of industry leaders and executives. On the speaker list are Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, Stitch Fix CEO Matt Baer, and C-suite executives from Macy’s, Meta, Gap Inc., SharkNinja, and many others. Perhaps unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence is the big focus of this year’s agenda. Sessions will address topics such as consumer attitudes toward AI, how companies are using AI to enhance personalization, and how AI agents are transforming retail. Retail Brew Reporter Vidhi Choudhary will be in attendance to track the latest trends coming out of the conference.

Here’s what else is going on this week in retail:

In spring deals: Target is running its Circle Deal Days event from Wednesday to Friday. The three-day event will feature discounts up to 50% off thousands of items across categories, with early access to deals available for Target Circle 360 loyalty members. The fall version of the event ran for an entire week, but this iteration is concentrated into “three high-impact days,” according to Target.

Keep reading here.—AV

Together With Talon.One

We should talk shop. There’s a smarter way to build loyalty without racing to the bottom of the discount bin. Come meet the Talon.One team at Shoptalk from March 24–26 (booth 2478) to see how they help 300+ global brands create incentives that drive real behavior change. Join them in Vegas.

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SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Fuel to the flames: Why small retailers and retail brands say they can’t pass on the cost of higher fuel prices. (CNN)

Leading the charged: PepsiCo is among the first companies to try out Tesla’s electric Semi truck. (the Wall Street Journal)

Flow chart: Why the prices for menstrual products are spiking. (CNBC)

The new path to purchase: Tune in to Bazaarvoice Summit 2026 on demand to understand how you can use real customer content as your growth engine to move beyond AI hype and into action. Watch now.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

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