Consumer confidence has been on the wane all year, and economic realities aren’t helping much. Yet retailers just wrapped up the month, and the first quarter, with surprising strength. In March, consumer sentiment hit a new low as inflation rose — the highest spike in four years — as the Iran war took a toll on energy supplies and people’s nerves. In the mostly discretionary segments covered by Retail Dive, though, retail sales surged more than 8%, with gains in most categories. That came on top of a nearly 5% increase in February and a nearly 6% increase in January. “Overall, a solid March rounds off a good start to the year for retail,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders said in emailed comments. But he warned that economic storm clouds are gathering, and the numbers aren’t all that they seem.

Tariffs and trade disputes in recent months have challenged assumptions about what ecommerce growth will look like in 2025. Digital Commerce 360 is preparing to publish the 2025 edition of its…

Nike is renaming its world headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. in honor of its co-founder and first employee Phil Knight. Now known as the Philip H. Knight Campus (PHK), the company said Tuesday that the renamed 400-acre property will serve as a tribute to Knight’s ongoing legacy, as well as a permanent reminder of the founder’s mentality that Nike employees are encouraged to bring to work every day. Beyond a dedication, the new name “represents a living expression of Nike’s roots and a powerful reflection of Knight’s enduring spirit: restless, bold and forever believing in what’s possible,” the Swoosh said in a statement. The first stage of the campus, dedicated in October 1990, united Nike employees – who previously had been scattered across a couple dozen buildings throughout Portland, Oregon – into six buildings that took the names of elite athletes, including Joan Benoit Samuelson, Michael Jordan, John McEnroe, Steve Prefontaine and Mike Schmidt. Nike’s explosive growth in the 1990s, and the hiring spike that ensued, prompted an expansion that roughly doubled the size of the campus, with new buildings named after Nike athletes such as Ken Griffey Jr., Mia Hamm, Jerry Rice and Pete Sampras.