Coming out of the Goldman Sachs Annual Retail Conference last week, I had a very uneasy feeling (other than the fact that Goldman once again delivered a first class conference). As I sat through each presentation, I searched for the […]
Controlled Chaos: An Industry on Edge Read More »
Just the Tip of the Iceberg The Nordstroms do not accept compliments easily. And when they do, (as Blake Nordstrom did for a cover article I wrote over a year ago), it was with a shrug, and a quiet “thanks,
Nordstrom Partners with J. Crew Read More »
Last week I blogged about Walmart’s acquisition of Jet.com, for $3.3 billion. In one fell swoop, Walmart gained Jet’s revenues (estimated at over a billion dollars its first year, nonetheless unprofitable), several distribution centers, 12 million SKUs, a growing millennial
A couple of years ago, the head of Nabisco called me because of a problem his channel partners had plopped down on his doorstep. Seems they had videos of women starting down the cookie aisles of their stores—and then backing
The Decline & Fall of Retail As We Know It Read More »
America@250, a multiyear research initiative and national dialogue launched by A.T. Kearney, looks ahead to what America may be like in 2026 when the nation will celebrate its 250th birthday. This ongoing inquiry includes Retail@250, a study of the immediate
Leading Through Change: A Perspective from Paul Charron Read More »
The Kroger Co. Has Been on Quite a Tear For a while now, Kroger has posted what is doubtless the best financial record of any conventional supermarket company. Check out these metrics: For 49 quarters in a row, it has
Kroger’s Private Recipe Read More »
Subscribing to Experiences (via Products) Consider the role that “experiences” play in our lives today. Every day, people share photos of the places they went, the things they ate, and who they were with—showing the world that they derive meaning
Subscription Retail Read More »
Remember waterbeds? If you’re of a certain age, you’ll recall all the excitement about sleeping on a giant Baggie full of water, it’s therapeutic values far outweighing its… well, weight on your bedroom floor. An entire retail channel of distribution
Out of the Boxspring Thinking Read More »
Walmart recently announced their intention to focus on millennials in the apparel category at the Raymond James 37th institutional investors’ conference. With 4500 stores across the U.S. (accessible within 10 minutes of 90 percent of the population) and a growing
Walmart’s Millennial Move Read More »
“That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in another.” Adlai Stevenson I\’ve never been one to use traditional demographics in my product or marketing. I acknowledge it, but don’t rely on
The Rise of the Perennial Millennial Read More »
