The Week in Shopping: Foot Traffic, New Collabs & Drawstrings

CECILIE BAHNSEN and North Face
I was fascinated to see North Face show up on Cecilie Bahnsen’s runway during Paris Fashion Week, with the results now available at the local Dover Street Market. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images
Sarah Shapiro
March 7, 2025

Stores are always looking for strategies to create foot traffic in this mobile shopping world. One tactic, of course, is to limit your online presence. T.J. Maxx, for instance, had the highest foot traffic in the eastern United States last quarter, in part because new merchandise arrives every week—you have to actually walk into a store to see the latest. The “Thrill of the Retail Hunt” strategy predates C.E.O. Ernie Herrman—remember the “Maxxinista” campaign?—but it’s especially retro amid an era where everything is online. Then again, T.J. Maxx has over 1,300 U.S. stores—not Walmart territory, but enough of a retail footprint to be pretty ubiquitous.