Remarkable Retail Podcast

Our guest this week is Beth Ann Kaminkow , Global CEO, VMLY&R who joins us to talk about the ever changing landscape of retail and consumer branding, customer engagement, and loyalty. In particular with dip into what defines high performance retail and the emerging world of "creative commerce."  We also get a sneak preview of her upcoming session at the World Retail Congress in Paris.  Then, as us...

Joining us for a deep dive on creating remarkable brand stories and driving powerful customer engagement are two industry veterans who will also be gracing the stage at next month's Shoptalk event in Las Vegas. Christiane Pendarvis , co-CEO of Pattern Beauty, Tracee Ellis Ross's hair care brand, and Andrea Moore , Chief Digital Officer of NEST New York, the fast growing fragrance brand deliver s a...

Our guest this week is Jane Ewing , SVP, Sustainability at Walmart* recorded live at last month's NRF "Big Show." In a wide-ranging interview we discuss how Walmart is putting people and planet at the heart of all of its decisions. We explore Walmart's sustainability journey and go into details on their key initiatives, the challenges they need to overcome, and how to get everyone on the same miss...

Once again it's time for Steve's annual retail predictions--and this list doesn't just go to eleven it goes to thirteen! Steve's provocative prognostications include "the bifurcation of just about everything," the culling of the unicorn herd, thoughts on the future of Neiman Marcus, Saks, and Nordstrom, along with a possible AI themed action movie, the outlook for sustainability, retailers steppin...

Angela Clark , Patagonia's VP of Digital--and one of retail's most celebrated and experienced e-commerce leaders--joins us to discuss driving digital transformation and how purpose is integral to Patagonia's strategy. She drops a ton of wisdom gleaned from her roles at multiple brands on the leading edge of the digital commerce evolution. In particular, we look at how Patagonia is building on its...

We have a special bonus episode for you today; hot on the heels of the NRF Big Show, we reached out to two Retail Experts who graced the stage in New York, all the way from the U.K. and Brazil to get a more global take on the significant trends and the year in retail ahead, from London,  Kate Ancketill , Founder, CEO and chief story-teller at GDR Creative Intelligence, and from São Paulo,  Alberto...

We're back with Season 8 and kick it off with one of the industry's leading thought leaders-- Carrie Tharp , VP Strategic Industries at Google Cloud. With her past experience in senior leadership at Fossil Group, Neiman Marcus, and Travelocity, and current board roles at the National Retail Federation, Vera Bradley, and Rue Gilt Groupe, Carrie brings tremendous perspective on where retail is heade...

Did you know that 2024 is a leap year? Are you prepared to make the leaps you must to win the epic battle between being remarkable or risking irrelevance as the pace of change accelerates, as the bar for performance gets raised higher and higher? As increasingly Fortune favors the bold, are you ready to leap ahead of the competition? This is Steve Dennis, strategic advisor, keynote speaker and bes...

We mark the close of our seventh season with a return visit from Ira Kalish, Deloitte's Chief Global economist, who helps us look back at how 2023 unfolded and gives us a glimpse into the macro-economic outlook for the year ahead. In a wide ranging conversation we delve into the possibility for a soft-landing, when we might start to see interest cuts, and the overall prospects for important global...

As we reach the penultimate episode of Season 7, it's time to grade Steve on his annual predictions . In the second installment of a two-part episode, Michael takes out his virtual chalkboard to assess the final batch of Steve's prognostications, which include a year of trading down, a tale of two cities when it comes to retailer balance sheets, and a whole lot more. We also do a reality check on...

We're all about accountability on the Remarkable Retail podcast, so as we get close to wrapping up Season 7, it's time to grade Steve on his annual predictions. In part one of a two-part episode, Michael takes out his virtual chalkboard as we assess the first batch of Steve's prognostications on a disrupter reset, whether retail media networks are more hype than hope, what to make of an accelerati...

This episode we welcome Nick Molnar , co-founder of AfterPay, the pioneering buy now pay later (BNPL) company acquired by Block (formerly Square) in 2021. At a time when BNPL is capturing headlines due to its rapid growth this holiday season, we engage in a wide-ranging conversation with one the sector's pioneering leaders. Nick takes us through his founder's story before we delve into how BNPL de...

This episode we welcome Michael Affronti, the SVP & General Manager of the Commerce Cloud business at Salesforce for a fascinating look at the rapidly evolving world of generative AI. In an expansive, yet highly practical, discussion Michael helps us separate the hope from the hype and "chalks the field" on the most important applications to automate mundane tasks or enhance the customer experienc...

Welcome to a special encore episode featuring Michelle Poole , President of Crocs.  We dig into the remarkable growth story behind the increasingly iconic footwear company. We address head-on the polarizing (or is it fundamentally under-estimated?) nature of the brand and how Michelle has turned that to advantage. We also learn about the personalizing power of jibbitz and how product extensions an...

We welcome  Brendan Witcher , Forrestor's VP & Principal Analyst back to the pod to get his always insightful and provocative perspectives on retailer's priorities for 2024. He helps us separate the real from the imagined with a preview of his upcoming report on where retailers are placing their bets for the future. We start with his takes on what makes the "Hype" list, as well as what should be o...

Joining us this week is Kristina Rogers , EY 's Global Consumer Lead. We leverage Kristina's vast experience working with retailers and consumer brands around the world to get her perspectives on which consumer behaviors are most critical to understand and respond to. We discuss which Covid behaviors are persisting, how current economic forces are driving the growth of private label, and the evolv...

This week we get a glimpse into Steve's forthcoming new book, now available for pre-order just about everywhere books are sold. With Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption Steve goes beyond retail and provides a unique take on why so many strategic transformations fail across a spectrum of industries and, most critically, what leaders must do to go from risking irreleva...

Our guest this week is Anish Melwani , Chairman and CEO of LVMH, North America. LVMH is the home to 75 distinguished Houses rooted in six different sectors and includes some of the most iconic global luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Tiffany, Bulgari, Sephora, and many more. We explore the differences between LVMH's North American business and the rest of the world, along with un...

Our guest this week is Laurie Lam , Chief Brand Officer at e.l.f. Beauty , the fast-growing cosmetics company that has made a name for itself with high quality, inexpensive beauty products. Laurie helps us understand the origin of the brand and some of the keys to its remarkable success. We dig into how staying connected to consumers fuels product innovation, the company's impressive record of div...

Our final episode recorded live at GroceryShop  in the  Vantage podcast studio features two of the world's leading experts on all things retail: Lindsey Mazza , Global Retail Lead at CapGemini and Stewart Samuel , Director of Retail Futures at IGD. In a wide ranging conversation we delve into the important trends affecting the grocery industry--and retail more broadly--including sustainability, th...

Joining us for our second episode recorded live in the Vantage remote podcast studio at Groceryshop is  Barbara Connors,  Vice President of Strategy & Acceleration at  84.51° Kroger's retail data science, insights and media company.  We start out big picture with Barbara's view of how consumer preferences continue to evolve and which Covid era behaviors are likely to persist. Then we go deep on th...

Our third anniversary episode features the first of three episodes recorded live at GroceryShop in the Vantage podcast studio. We welcome three rock star venture capitalists-- Ashley Hartman (Bluestein Ventures), Matt Nichols (Commerce Ventures), and Kevin Parakkattu (Plug and Play) --who share their thoughts on the future of retail tech. In a fast-paced discussion, we dig into the current funding...

On this episode we debut a new segment, designed to recommend specific paths and actions to become truly remarkable. Leveraging material from Steve's best-selling book, consulting work, and keynote speaking, we go deep on a concept first popularized by Nike CEO Mark Parker. At its core, "editing to amplify" means giving customers fewer, more powerfully distinctive options. What was once largely ap...

Joining us for a wide-ranging interview on how a more than 100 year old retailer stays relevant is Greg Hicks , CEO of Canadian Tire . We start with some history, tracing the evolution of one of North America's most successful retailers from its modest beginnings as a tire shop to today's diverse portfolio of store formats, powerful private brands, and financial services, comprising over 1,700 loc...

The retail graveyard is already filled with brands that failed to transform for the new age of retail and many household names (JC Penney, Gap, Macy's, and more) are edging ever closer to the precipice. Despite the profound shifts in retail during the past decades, these iconic brands continue to fall prey to "The Innovator's Dilemma," choosing to double down on what is very clearly a losing hand....