My good friend Mike Gould, former Bloomingdale’s CEO, often reminds me of a statement I made several years ago that he keeps using as an apt description of all businesses that thrive on innovation: “Risk-averse fashion is an oxymoron.” Just […]
The Nordstroms See the Future and Want to Own It Read More »
Ever-emerging new technologies and new financial realities, constantly changing consumer preferences and ruthless competitive challenges make effective transformational leadership a retailing management imperative. While maintenance of the status quo may have worked in the past it’s a deadly practice now.
The Transformation Trap Read More »
Many of you may remember Rodgers and Hammerstein’s iconic 1949 musical South Pacific and a song that rings as true today as it did nearly 70 years ago. “You\’ve got to be taught to hate and fear, You\’ve got to
Tuning Up Diversity Read More »
The department store future will be an oxymoron unless the current model and the actual words “department store” are not transformed to become uber-compelling destinations for tomorrow’s consumers. If not, they will be history. In fact, the future is NOW,
Is a Department Store Future an Oxymoron? The Tsunami is now! Read More »
We talk a lot about disruptors and how they have turned retailing upside down, challenging the very existence of entire industry sectors. So here’s another disruptor to put into the mix: activist investors. The beleaguered Whole Foods chain is on
Activist Investors Drive Change at Whole Foods Read More »
I do not believe for one minute that the mall is dead. Yes, the 75-year-old concept of a “big box with lots of smaller boxes inside” is surely headed in the direction of the buggy whip. Consumers simply do not
The Future Face of Shopping Centers Read More »
The roller coaster ride of the digital landscape is changing our world into something we’ve never seen before—and this is certainly the case for the retail industry. Amazon’s cross-industry success, the continued rise of artificial intelligence, and the evolution of
Why Cultural Transformation Is The Ultimate Retail Strategy Read More »
I know you are thinking I got the headline backwards. I did not. Two weeks ago I wrote a blog Store Rationalization or Price Deflation? debunking what some experts were hopefully predicting: that the retail industry is in a period
Never Let a Good Story Get in the Way of the Facts: Over-Capacity Is Accelerating Read More »
Through Online-Only, House Parties and Peer-to-Peer Platforms, Forward-Thinking Beauty Brands Are Skipping Traditional Retail Altogether In my neck of the woods – the Gulf Coast of Florida – it’s easy to spot one of those Mary Kay powder pink Cadillacs
Cutting Out the Middleman Read More »
A Conversation with Karen Katz, CEO, Neiman Marcus Please note: We interviewed Karen as part of the Retail@250 series, several months before Neiman Marcus announced plans to look for an investor. Some industry insiders have cast doubt on the future
The Future of Luxury Read More »
