According to Moody’s Investors Service, 13.5 percent of their retail and apparel portfolio is distressed, compared to 16 percent during the Great Recession. This little factoid, along with the recent announcements of thousands of store closings across the industry, bankruptcy […]
Are We Into Creative Destruction or Just Plain Destruction? Read More »
When did baby monitors and election booths become weapons of mass disruption? At what point did a GPS or our own F-16 fighter jets become potential tools for America’s enemies? This makes no sense; of course a fighter jet will
Best Retail Advice – Go Hack Yourself! Read More »
When the Museum of Modern Art opened its new building in 2004, admission was priced at $20. And the cultural world gasped. Behind closed doors, snobs carped that New York City’s cultural elite would have to rub elbows with the
Shopping + Culture Read More »
It’s no secret that people are shopping less in physical stores. Walk through any mall on most days and you are struck by a noticeable lack of shoppers. Shrinking crowds are a well-documented phenomenon, a result of double-digit e-commerce growth
How Mass Merchants Are Waging the Battle for Brick-and-Mortar Share Read More »
A Conversation with William P. Lauder, Executive Chair, The Estée Lauder Companies Vats of indelible ink have been used to question and revise the future of retail, including our interviews with key industry figures. William P. Lauder, executive chairman of
What Retailers Can Learn From a Beauty Company Read More »
The only thing on Earth that can grow into infinity and beyond is the bamboo in my front lawn. Four sprigs of it were planted 50 years ago and nothing has been able to stop it; not setting it on
Under Armour, Under Siege Read More »
Are we having fun yet? I don’t think so. Every day, and usually more than once a day, some new tidbit about Amazon blazing new trails and road blocking old ones screams out with news of disintermediating all industries. With
Amazon, Yada, Yada, Yada Read More »
Hey kids, let’s start a new retail business. First off, let’s go after Amazon, the most ginormous startup in retailing history and the 800-pound gorilla that pretty much eats every other gorilla in the online zoo. Then, let’s go after
Is Wayfair THE Way? Read More »
Earlier this fall I ran into a friend who is well connected and well versed in the chic Manhattan universe of society, celebrity and fashion. “That’s a great dress,” he said, complimenting me on the brighter-than-navy blue, three-quarter sleeved, gabardine
Ralph Lauren: The Great American Brand Takes a Look in the Mirror and Decides to Change Read More »
The long-anticipated merger of two powerhouse European supermarket operators finally happened this summer. The merger of the two firms—Ahold of The Netherlands and Delhaize of Belgium—has great implications for food retailing in the U.S., far more than in Europe. That’s
