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Management

Sharon Price John Builds the Case for Collaborative Leadership

Sharon John stepped into Build-A-Bear Workshop 12 years ago seamlessly and successfully following Founder Maxine Clark’s retirement. While the boardroom predicted disaster, Sharon orchestrated a textbook turnaround. A veteran of Mattel, she preserved Maxine’s vision and 28-year-old brand legacy and maintained the culture while driving transformation, proving that respect for the past and immediate results aren’t mutually exclusive.

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The Robin Report December 9, 2025
Will Luxury Bow to Masstige
Experience

Will Luxury Bow to Masstige?

In Chicago, shoppers can pick up an affordable logo-emblazoned polo shirt at a Ralph Lauren store, enjoy a $6 latte at Ralph’s Coffee, and have a $43 lobster roll at RL Restaurant. Accessibility is experience-driven: For aspirational consumers, “being there” gives them a taste of luxury.

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Glyn Atwal December 8, 2025
71
Retail Unwrapped Podcast

Never Underestimate the Power of Weather

Join Shelley and Evan Gold of Planalytics as they discuss the fact that the weather is more volatile now than it ever has been before with extreme weather events occurring in the U.S. every three weeks. Evan explains that retailers need to proactively plan with demand forecast accuracy that can increase overall profitability up to 30 percent.

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Retail Unwrapped December 5, 2025
Sharon Price John Balances Pragmatism with Imagination
Management

Sharon Price John Balances Pragmatism with Imagination

Price John recruited executives from multi-billion-dollar companies, deliberately building a team of high-performers positioned for their next career leap. She offered them stretch opportunities that would accelerate both individual growth and the Build-A-Bear Workshop‘s organizational transformation.

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Shelley E. Kohan December 4, 2025
Urban Outfitters New Store Design Is Far from the Mark
Experience

Urban Outfitters’ New Store Design Is Far from the Mark

Urban Outfitters is launching a new store experience—one they insist is driven by “customer insight and market preferences.” Walk in and the whole thing feels less like a modern retail vision and more like a 90s Limited Too reboot that nobody asked for.

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Jasmine Glasheen December 2, 2025
O Tannenbaum.O Tannenbaum Where Art Thou
Operations

O Tannenbaum…O Tannenbaum: Where Art Thou?

The numbers are staggering: 85 to 90 percent of all artificial Christmas trees and holiday décor, including ornaments, come from China. Countries like Cambodia have become larger suppliers of holiday lights, but plenty still come from China. China is also responsible for some 40 percent of all the wrapping paper used in the world, a third of the cardboard used in packages and as much as 87 percent of all the tinsel.

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Warren Shoulberg December 1, 2025
68
Retail Unwrapped Podcast

How a D2C Brand Beat the Odds in Scaling to Retail

Join Shelley and Hulken co-founder Alex Schinasi to learn why the most successful omnichannel strategies aren’t about being everywhere, but about identifying the few channels significant enough to actually move the needle on revenue.

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Retail Unwrapped November 28, 2025

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