All Insights - The Robin Report

Experience

Brandy Melville Is a Gen Z Outlier

For many retailers, removing fitting rooms would risk customer frustration and dissatisfaction. However, Brandy Melville has never operated like most retailers. Detached and apathetic customer service is intrinsic to the brand. Oddly, its success suggests that shoppers are willing to tolerate inconveniences and blatant disregard as a trade-off to be part of an inner circle. Abusing customers to earn loyalty is a unique approach.

Jaisel Cherry July 8, 2026

Finance

Kroger’s Consolidation Polycrisis

Another grocery chain, another acquisition. Now that Kroger has bought Giant Eagle, is it a smart consolidation, or a company desperately spending money it doesn’t have?

Phil Lempert July 7, 2026

Experience

Noises Off

Creating calm: How can retailers produce better retail spaces and experiences with a sound mind?

Max Miller July 6, 2026

Operations

Target: The Robin Report Retail Miss of the Week, 7.4.26

We like many of the things the new CEO over there at Target, Michael Fiddelke, is doing to try to wake up this sleepy retailer from the self-imposed stupor it’s been in for the past few years. But the company veered backwards this week when it announced a new system of what are essentially a dozen demerits for employees who show up late—or not at all—that leads to getting fired for the worst offenders.

Warren Shoulberg July 4, 2026

Retail Unwrapped Podcast

Signals Retailers Are Missing

Join Shelley and David Katz, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Randa Apparel and Accessories, as they challenge why reading the headlines is not the same as understanding what those headlines mean and why they matter. David’s gray swan model reveals how key trends are bellwethers for significant shifts.

Retail Unwrapped July 3, 2026

Operations

Russian Retail Is Tanking

Vacancy rates in shopping malls could rise to nearly 10 percent over the remainder of the year as Russia’s ill-conceived war continues to hit the home front. The market has given way to a long-term malaise that puts Russian consumers in a bind, although many international geopolitical critics will shed no tears.

Mark Faithfull July 2, 2026

Experience

The State of Luxury Report Reveals Significant Findings

The State of Luxury Report has just been released! This comprehensive research report reveals that luxury is not retreating, it is recalibrating. The industry has entered a new phase defined by discernment, selectivity, and strategic discipline. Although growth has slowed in luxury goods, experiential luxury continues to outperform.

Pam Danziger July 1, 2026

Operations

Are Your Managers Mediocre?

Store managers need to do the right things more consistently. Excellence requires discipline, resisting the urge to react, instead to proactively lead. Great stores are built from the inside out—through strong leadership, consistent execution, and teams that know exactly how to win.

Rachel Williamson June 30, 2026

Operations

How Professional Resellers Are Killing the Circular Economy

We’re entering an era in which resellers compromise apparel value, rather than enhance it.
Customers are competing for repurposed goods, but their intentions go beyond looking cool at their next dinner; they intend to resell when they’re done with them. Professional resellers are also vying for top-notch goods.

Jasmine Glasheen June 29, 2026

the

Latest

Brandy Melville Is a Gen Z Outlier

Kroger’s Consolidation Polycrisis

Noises Off

Target: The Robin Report Retail Miss of the Week, 7.4.26

Signals Retailers Are Missing

Russian Retail Is Tanking

The State of Luxury Report Reveals Significant Findings

Are Your Managers Mediocre?

How Professional Resellers Are Killing the Circular Economy

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