Bringing our LLH interviews to life, a group of guests met, connected and shared their journeys and goals in deeply authentic, open conversations. A room full of strangers were transformed into mentors, peers and equals by sharing how to make a difference while building successful careers
Lead Like Her: Meaningful Conversations and Transformative Connections Read More »
Ryan Cohen always has big ideas. Some like Chewy.com, the successful pet products online retailer that he co-founded and eventually sold for $3.35 billion, turn out to be great ideas. And some, like his aborted takeover attempt of the original Bed Bath & Beyond, turn out to be big busts. Now Cohen has his biggest idea ever: GameStop, the gaming retailer he is CEO of, is trying to buy eBay, a company three times the size of his. To do so will take an enormous amount of financing (try $9.4 billion in cash and up to $20 billion in debt), which is often the kiss of death for any retail business. And eBay is no big Hit either this week; it has zigged and zagged its business strategy for decades with varying degrees of success. Same as Cohen, who has also played the meme-stock scam as well as anybody. He always aims high; it’s just that very often his aim is not very good.
GameStop: The Robin Report Retail Miss of the Week, 05. 9. 2026 Read More »
American Eagle was accused of promoting eugenics and then doubled down on its controversial spokesperson. Then it hired her opposite to represent its subsidiary. The 100% Aerie Real campaign begs the question, “How much research is the average consumer doing?” Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain: Consumers’ response to the Aerie Real campaign will be a case study in brand accountability and customer forgiveness.
Aerie and Pamela Anderson Read More »
Companies, including retail organizations, emerge first as a nascent idea, and then, when a viable opportunity promptly presents itself, a new business is born. These new enterprises prosper and grow, often as a result of the quality of their leadership as much as from the kernel of the idea that launched them. But then, retail brands fail when leadership falters or disappears. Succession is the fuel that ensures longevity.
What Makes Retail Leadership Excel Read More »
The three rules Simon pioneered made him the best retail real estate developer of the 21st century.
Legacies: David Simon Changed Retail Development Read More »
Join TRR contributors and retail experts Phil Lempert and Mark Cohen as they discuss and debate the imprecise science of leadership succession.
Succession: Hire the Enemy or Promote Within? Read More »
Own the intellectual property, license the name, collect the fees, and let the operational partner take the capital risk. As retailers search for new profitable models, it turns out that the most valuable thing in retail is not the store but the story. Here is ABG’s.
Retail According to Authentic Brands Read More »
As an expert in founder-led companies, one of Carla Vernón’s contributions at The Honest Company is to protect Jessica Alba’s vision and bring the company into a new chapter where she has grown gross margins by a thousand basis points since she took the reins. How did she do it?
Lead Like Her: Carla Vernón’s Authentic Leadership Approach Read More »
Imagine being able to actually buy things that were being shown on your TV, not just watching dead-end commercials. It was interactive before interactive was even a thing. Now, nearly 50 years later, TV shopping is no longer a thing and with the news that QVC has missed its financial filing deadline yet again and will most likely end up in chapter 11, it may not be around…as we know it.
QVC: The Robin Report Retail Miss of the Week, 04.11. 26 Read More »
Reimagining the retail model has often been a fool’s errand, constrained by resources and lack of imagination. Short-term goals often cloud the vision required to reverse the tired paradigm; it’s better to put the customer first and the immediate P&L second. Many brands have lost their way, and the best physical retail works well when someone’s done all the thinking for the customer.
Tim Baxter: Insights from a Retail Visionary Read More »
