James Reinhart, founder of the popular resale marketplace ThredUp, attributes his “aha moment” that led him to start the company as wanting a simple way to get rid of his own unwanted clothing. So it is an enduring irony that when ThredUp launched in 2009, it did not, and does not to this day, accept men’s clothing for resale or list men’s items for sale in its marketplace. (ThredUp does accept men’s clothing on behalf of the retail partners whose branded resale programs it administers, however.)

Reinhart has said that ThredUp doesn’t carry men’s clothing because men were not as enthusiastic about clothing resale as women, and while on aggregate the data still bears this out, industry executives note that there are some categories, like sneaker resale, where the men’s category outpaces women.

One sure indicator that resale skews toward women is how many more women’s products are available in online marketplaces.

Depop, the resale app that eBay recently purchased from Etsy, listed 30.9 million articles of women’s clothing at the time this was published, more than double the 13.6 million men’s.

While eBay doesn’t list the number of listings in the broad clothing category, it does for types of clothing, and many results are similarly lopsided.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Valentine’s Day drove a surge in gifting items, like flowers and desserts, for Shopify customers, according to data shared first with Retail Brew.

Consumers were estimated to spend $29.1 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, according to data from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. However, according to Omnisend’s latest report, Valentine’s Day-related marketing activity fell 52% YoY, as 1 in 4 shoppers pulled back on gifting.

But the shoppers who did celebrate were not messing around. Orders for classic go-to flowers like tulips, roses, and lilies went up a whopping 195%, 170% and 56%, respectively. Meanwhile, orders for sweet treats like chocolate-covered fruit surged 110% in February, while cupcake orders jumped 81%.

Keep reading here.—VC

“We ended DEI in America,” President Trump declared in his State of the Union address on February 24, but if that’s the case, Ikea didn’t get the memo.

In its 2025 Annual Summary released a week before the address, Ikea US was unabashed about its DEI efforts.

“We believe that fairness, belonging, and respect are essential to our culture and our success,” the report stated. “Guided by our values, we continue to embed inclusive practices across the business as a fundamental way of working—strengthening our co-workers, our communities, and our performance.”

Keep reading here.—AAN

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