If you haven’t yet heard of British apparel retailer Aligne, we’ve gotta ask: Where have you been?

Launched in East London in 2020, Aligne began as a wholesale womenswear label before evolving into a buzzy DTC brand known for its influencer-backed blazers and denim dresses.

In the first eight months alone, the brand notched $1 million in sales in the US with ShopMy as an affiliate partner. While primarily online, the brand has also been operating a widely popular summer pop-up in NYC’s Soho since April this year, which shuttered earlier this month.

And if you’re thinking, this is just another viral Gen Z brand, think again; the majority of Aligne’s customers fall between the ages of 30 and 50.

CEO Ginny Seymour, who first came on board in 2022, said a pivot from wholesale to DTC has been instrumental in the brand’s growth.

Keep reading here.—JS

As college students head to their campus bookstores this fall to shop for sweatshirts and snacks, they’ll also be greeted by a display of scents from Bath & Body Works.

The fragrance and body care retailer is launching at 600 college campuses, its first large-scale distribution expansion beyond its own stores. It’ll sell body and lip care, hand soap, hand sanitizers, candles, wallflower diffusers and bulbs in their own branded displays within the stores at schools like George Washington University, Georgia State University, University of Florida, Boston College, and Vanderbilt University.

The move “allows us to reach our Gen Z customers where they are and when they need us most,” its chief merchandising officer, Betsy Schumacher, said in a statement.

Keep reading here.—EC

For the last few months, Walmart has been parading out an army of new agents for its workers, according to global chief technology and development officer Suresh Kumar. AI systems can now help with tasks like pricing items, stocking shelves, or requesting time off.

But the whole ensemble may have gotten to be a bit much.

“If you build individual agents for every use case, it very quickly becomes overwhelming for the end user,” Kumar told us.

Now, a team of “super agents” is here to save the day. The retail giant is reorganizing its many agents under four of these souped-up personas, which can route queries to any of the dozens of sub-agents under their scope.

Keep reading here on Tech Brew.—PK