As a merchant, you’ve watched holiday shopping seasons come and go, and you’re well aware that in the last few years, consumer spending behavior has been through radical changes. It’s been a slow recovery since the precipitous drop in holiday […]
Getting a Return on Post-Holiday Returns Read More »
Wow!! Another disastrous quarter, and the beat goes on. Louder and louder it gets, and the media and financial analysts are having a field day. They have to be loving Ron Johnson for being “out there,” pouring forth the fodder
More Financial \”Free-Falling\” at JC Penney Read More »
The “numbers” are all heading in a positive direction following a decade of collapse. The “street” has a buy recommendation on its stock. A little “buzz” is being heard. Are we being fooled once again about a Gap turnaround, or
Re-Gapping The Gap…Millennials in The Cross-Hairs Read More »
“Innovate or die.” “Ideation is the new thing.” “It’s a game-changer.” New this, new that, and blah, blah, blah. On and on we hear about the necessity for breakthrough creativity, to find the next best new thing, service or experience;
Innovation… Ill-Defined, Misunderstood and a Rare Occurrence Read More »
It may be counterintuitive and even surprising when retailers decide to skew small, but in an era of unlimited accessibility, many big-box brands are looking towards the archetypical “shop” for the next directional shift of retail. In other words, favoring
Shopifying: When Less is More. Read More »
Boredom Recommended as the Recipe for Creativity Remember being bored as a kid? We were pushed outdoors and told to “go play.” And then what happened? Out of boredom came unspeakable adventures and untold risk. Play took over and cool
Musings on Business (NOT) as Usual Read More »
Drum Roll Please, Ladies and Gentlemen. Announcing the three greatest moments of innovation in the history of home furnishings products: 3. Furniture manufacturers, trying to reduce their cost of upholstering with expensive craftsmen and detailed stitching and sewing techniques, invent
Innovation in Home Products…It Ain\’t Just Fitted Sheets Read More »
Robin Lewis: What in the world was Best Buy thinking when they discontinued their Studio D and Escape small store concepts several years ago? You designed these neighborhood boutiques to customize these stores for specific niche demographics and lifestyles. What’s
Q&A with Ed Schlossberg, Founder & Principal of ESI Design Read More »
One commodity retailers never seem to run out of is problems. We’ve seen no shortage of business challenges in recent years, as brick-and-mortar retailers have wrestled with overcapacity, flat same-store sales, Internet incursions, and a tepid economic recovery. But amidst
The New Age of Discovery Read More »
As with all new approaches, the best innovations in the digital marketplace occur not as a result of reinventing the wheel, but by integrating and retooling existing assets. Things become truly exciting for the merchant in the combination of insights
Multichannel Breakthrough: Segmentation Powers Insights into the Empowered Shopper Read More »
