Retail insights at the intersection of now and next. Unfiltered. Unbiased
The future of retail work will not be defined by whether humans or machines dominate. It will be defined by how well retailers recognize the human roles that AI cannot easily replicate—and redesign their organizations to elevate them.
By investing in a regenerative farm-to-fashion supply chain, brands elevate their value proposition in ways that are both socially and environmentally responsible. Loyal consumers buy what a brand makes as well as the story, values and meaning that stand behind it. The farm-to-fashion movement builds a more resilient, sustainable business model, as well as a more sustainable planet and more prosperous people living on it.
Chip Wilson is an ex-retailer, ever since he sold and then gave up control of the company he founded, Lululemon. It was a brilliant retail startup because Wilson not only created a terrific store concept but practically invented an entire merchandising concept that hadn’t even existed before: athleisure wear.
In this conversation, Haley Boehning sits down with Tim to unpack the story behind The Baxter Collective, a new highly-curated physical retail platform opening its first store in Rye, New York. Designed to fill the white space between the endless aisles online and the niche boutique, The Baxter Collective isn’t about reinventing the department store.
Where is Generation Z actually spending their money? As their social media profiles function like supplementary resumes, they’re spending to build their personal brands online. Young people are investing in highly considered luxury purchases to help them achieve their professional goals by visualizing the life they want to lead, or the person they want to become, on digital channels.
Economic opportunity in America is vast and wide. Aligning capital with vision, brand values, customers, managers, and partners allows for all necessary constituents to come together, perform and win. If you don’t choose the right parties to align with your needs, you risk it all. In simple terms, a bus driver whose agenda is to sell the bus won’t ultimately care about the people riding on the bus who need to get home.
Marcy is a customer-centric strategist and innovator; founder of Schaffir Consulting in 2022 she has been one of the most successful leaders in the industry at Lane Bryant, L Brands, LensCrafters, Ann Taylor, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Her leadership philosophy is based on her conviction to, “Stop waiting; start asking.”
Operationally rigorous retail is harder to replicate than it appears. It requires clear strategic priorities, disciplined assortment planning, and investment in format evolution. It demands alignment among merchandising, real estate, design, operations and the buy-in of the workforce. It requires the organization’s maturity to say no when necessary.
Every company that came along after them said they were the “Warby Parker of…whatever” and virtually every one of them failed, collapsed or morphed into a traditional business that had little if anything to do with DTC.
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