What the hell is the matter at Kohl’s? The big mid-market retailer – practically the poster child for successful retailing for at least the past two decades – has very suddenly and just as shockingly hit a major wall, with […]
Menomonee Falling? Read More »
I recently toured the headquarters, broadcast studios and operating heart of HSN Inc. (Home Shopping Network) in St. Petersburg, Florida. There’s HSN across all platforms – television, online, mobile, interactive TV, gaming, all of that. Then there are 8 e-commerce and catalog
Q&A With Mindy Grossman, CEO HSN Read More »
Consumer Facts from Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ A year ago the rising costs of materials, labor and fuel put pressure on apparel brands and manufacturers to maintain margins and pass minimal costs onto the consumer. In re-thinking sourcing strategies, many
Diluting Cotton Content Compromises Quality and Brand Perception Read More »
Best Practices from Kurt Salmon Many retailers are striving to better respond to changes in consumer demand, and it’s easy to see why: They’re pressed to reduce inventories and cut supply chain costs at the same time that the shopping
The Omnipresent Retailer: Creating a Demand-Responsive Value Chain Read More »
The mantra of the old school merchants has always been “… at the end of the day, success is all about product, product, product.” Well, several years ago that myth was shattered and the ante was raised in the apparel
Controlling Creation to Consumption: It’s Time Read More »
What in the world was Best Buy thinking when they discontinued their Studio D and Escape small store concepts several years ago? Designed as neighborhood boutiques, with Studio D for 30-45 year old soccer moms and other more tech-challenged consumers,
How Best Buy Blew the Chance to Out-Apple Apple Read More »
There’s something unnerving about the volatility of petroleum prices. First they’re up, then they’re down – but somehow the downs aren’t ever as big as the ups and fuel prices continue their upward climb. Recent weeks have brought another upward
How Supermarkets Turned Pain at the Pump into a Positive Read More »
These are exciting times in the financing and mergers markets, with several key themes influencing the consumer retail space, and exciting opportunities for high growth and emerging companies. Financing Markets During the financial crisis, we saw GDP growth plummet 0.3
Succeeding in a Rapidly Evolving M&A Landscape Read More »
There are incredible transformative events going on in retailing today. Most of them are due to the necessity for gaining competitive advantage in our over-stored, “share wars” marketplace, increasingly exacerbated by the relentless and rapid growth of e-commerce. U.S. population
I’m not talking about Brian Dunn’s “bye-bye,” as we wait to hear what happened. Let\’s get to a bigger story. What happened to Tower Records and Virgin Megastores in the music business? What happened to bookstores and now, potentially publishers? What
Bye-Bye, Best Buy? Read More »
