Weekly News Wrap: New Shibuya awaits tourists to Japan; Naver buys US-based Poshmark in $1.2b deal

And India's Nykaa forges an alliance with Dubai's Apparel Group in the Gulf region.

From Bloomberg:

Shibuya — famous for its huge crossing, Hachiko statue and plethora of shops — has seen some big changes over the past few years. Once known for underground clothing brands, graffiti and nightclubs, the enclave has seen four mega-skyscrapers open in the past four years: Scramble Square, Fukuras, Stream and the re-built Parco. Each one houses stores from international and domestic brands, including Chanel and Asics.

The Scramble Square building, right in the middle of what used to be bus stops, is a visitor’s playground. There’s a large underground food hall at the bottom, and the observatory 46 floors above offer a nearly unobstructed 360-degree view of western Tokyo.

From Reuters:

South Korean e-commerce company Naver announced a $1.2b purchase of US fashion resale platform Poshmark but investors questioned the timing of its biggest acquisition amid a slowing economy and sent its shares tumbling.

Naver, which is also South Korea's top search engine, will pay $17.90 cash for each Poshmark share and acquire all of its outstanding stock in a foray into the U.S. e-commerce market.

Poshmark is the largest fashion consumer-to-consumer platform in North America, with 80 million registered users led by Millennial and Gen Z active users, Naver executives said in a conference call.

The deal will combine Poshmark's shopping platform with Naver's technology, likely starting with live-streaming followed by technologies such as image recognition and artificial intelligence, the two companies said.

With Millennials and Gen Zers leaning toward value-driven consumption such as environmental protection, and with inflation squeezing wallets, Naver and Poshmark seek to lead "re-commerce" or consumer-driven resale - expected to be the next global trend after convenient e-commerce, or fast fashion, Naver CEO Choi Soo-Yeon told Reuters.

From Bloomberg:

Indian cosmetics and fashion retailer Nykaa and Dubai-based lifestyle and fashion conglomerate Apparel Group have struck an alliance to expand in the Gulf region, the companies said.

With the agreement, Nykaa hopes to grow in a region where it sees high demand for beauty products, months after inflationary pressures in India led it to report a "subdued season" in the three months that ended June.

Nykaa Chief Executive Falguni Nayar said the two companies would together build a multi-brand beauty retail business in Gulf Cooperation Council countries, with Nykaa holding a 55% stake in the entity and Apparel Group holding the rest.

The companies did not disclose the financial details of the agreement.

"We do believe that the per capita consumption of beauty is very high in the region," Nayar told reporters.