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https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/24/politics ... index.html

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[Time_Traveller]

Secondhand clothing on track to take 10% of global fashion sales

Wed 27 Mar 2024 10.00 GMT



Secondhand clothing sales are on track to make up a tenth of the global fashion market next year, as the cost of living crisis and concerns over sustainability drives consumers towards “pre-loved” garments.

Global sales of pre-owned clothes surged by 18% last year to $197bn (£156bn) and are forecast to reach $350bn in 2028, according to a report by GlobalData for resale specialist ThredUp. The landmark is expected to be reached a year later than predicted, as global growth remains slightly behind previous estimates.

However, the US secondhand market grew seven times faster than overall fashion retail where sales were flat in 2023 from a year earlier.

James Reinhart, the co-founder and chief executive of ThredUp, said the resale sector had continued to grow in a tough market because it was “more resilient” when household budgets were squeezed by higher energy and food bills.

“When consumer sentiment is softer, value is key,” he said. “People are looking to shop secondhand to drive more value.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... hion-sales

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[weatheriscool]

Walmart to shut all health clinics in US over lack of profitability

Source: Reuters

April 30, 2024 1:57 PM EDT Updated 4 hours ago

April 30 (Reuters) - Walmart (WMT.N) said on Tuesday it will close all 51 of its health clinics and shut its virtual health care operations, saying it could not see it as a sustainable business model to continue.

"Healthcare is expensive to run. We were finding that the increased labor and operating costs environment, like with reimbursement, both public and private, made it difficult (to run the business) and obvious we had to close," Walmart spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told Reuters. The company said in a statement those challenges created an environment where it saw a "lack of profitability" that made the care business "unsustainable for us at this time."

Companies such as Walmart, Walgreens, Amazon and CVS have expanded into providing healthcare services during the past five years, seeing opportunities in the highly fragmented U.S. system. But it has not been clear that consumers want such services from retailers or that they are profitable. Walgreens, for instance, is planning to close 160 of its VillageMD primary care clinics after it recorded a $5.8 billion impairment charge on its investment in VillageMD.

Amazon in February said it would cut a few hundred jobs across its healthcare units, including clinic operator One Medical which it acquired for $3.5 billion last year. And Walmart's sudden decision to close all its 51 health clinics and telehealth operations marks a startling about-face from its plan last year to nearly double the number of these health centers across the U.S. by 2024.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/health ... 024-04-30/