Retail Unwrapped - from The Robin Report

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Guest: Mark A. Cohen, former Director of Retail Studies at Columbia Business School and former CEO of Sears Canada.  What’s the back story on the Saks-Neiman Marcus merger? Will it survive? Could it be retail’s next colossal failure? Mergers and acquisitions in the retail industry have a high failu...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! The results of the national election will impact retail in a multitude of ways: immigration policies, economic stability, labor markets, new regulations, and trade and economic policies.  Join TRR reporter Arick Wierson and Shelley as they explore consumerism, the struggles of the middle class, and...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Special Guest: George Shaw, CEO and Founder, Pathr.ai Spatial intelligence is supercharging merchandise and marketing teams.  How?  By transforming data into dollars. In-store teams are still at a disadvantage when it comes to knowing how their shoppers behave, compared to online retailers with unp...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Our Special Guests, MG2 Principals Melissa Gonzalez and Matthew Goelzer, AIA, LEED AP Consumers now expect seamless, unified commerce experiences where they can access products and information anytime, anywhere.  This fluidity is reshaping how brands build loyalty and manage supply chains, with a f...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!   Special Guest:   Michelle Crossan-Matos, Chief Marketing Officer, Ulta Beauty We’re experiencing a deficit in joyfulness; 85 percent of people wish they felt a high level of joy in their lives, but only 58 percent report feeling that way.  Ulta Beauty’s mission is to bring joy to millions of peop...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! As the world’s number-one PC manufacturer, Lenovo’s mission is to deliver smarter technology for everyone. The company journey has transformed from a wholesale business to a DTC model supported by rich data and analytics delivering world-class experiences for its users. How did they do it? Join She...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Special guest Bayard Winthrop, Founder and CEO of AmericanGiant has spent the last 13 years on a mission to change the world with American made high-quality sportswear and strengthening small-town manufacturing communities.  Bayard inspired Steven Kurutz’s book American Flannel as a passionate entr...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Data rules in the ecommerce digital world but is more challenging to collect in the physical world. But tracking millions of pieces of merchandise across your store floors so your customers and staff can find any product in real-time is now a reality. Unified commerce is here.  Join Shelley E. Koha...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! What does it take to turn around an iconic brand that started with humble beginnings? Creating a new vision may not be the best road to take and reinvigorating a brand may not be enough.  The traditional checklist is outdated: cutting costs to profitability and relying solely on operational efficie...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! There was a time in retail when the route to the C-suite was from the sales floor, and future leadership was carefully groomed at companies like Lord & Taylor, Abraham & Strauss, and Macy’s.  With many companies downsizing and eliminating training programs, plus integrating more technology,...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Nordstrom’s core mission is to make customers feel good and look their best. And the retailer is legendary for listening to the customer and delivering customer service that “is not defined by us based on our legacy practices. It’s defined by customers. The customer is still the best filter we have...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Top headlines in retail reinforce the seismic shifts in the industry, including vertical integration, aligned brand platforms, private branding, new department store models, and updated workplace policies. It has all turned retail operations on its side as leaders grapple with how to master so many...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Special guests Susan Vison, VP and executive director of REI’s Path Ahead Ventures, and Ed Chang, co-founder of Varlo, join Robin and Shelley to discuss how big companies can help elevate and support underrepresented BIPOC brand owners. An estimated one percent of founders in the outdoor industry i...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Special Guest: Charlie Youakim, Chairman and CEO, Sezzle The BNPL market has exploded over the past two years as consumers have ramped up this fintech alternative to credit cards. Competition is heating up; will only the strong survive? Special guest Charlie Youakim, Chairman and CEO of Sezzle, joi...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! If Walmart, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan Chase can’t figure out how to make healthcare work, then there is something seriously wrong with today’s U.S. retail healthcare model.  In 2018 Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase announced a joint venture into healthcare called Haven...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! The evolution of frictionless shopping in self-checkout continues to meet customer expectations and enhance the in-store experience. What’s behind the technology?   Join Robin and Shelley to reveal the expanding role of RFID across retail industries and its broader use cases in supply chain, custom...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Weather analytics and retail are connected. The most basic connection is seasonal changes prompt seasonal sales. But there’s more to it.  Special guest Evan Gold, EVP of Global Partnerships & Alliances at Planalytics joins Robin and Shelley to talk weather’s impact on retail. Learn how climate...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! The state of AI in retail today can be as confusing as it is exciting. But it is a board mandate for retail, without question. The opportunity to drive higher productivity and profitability is massive, yet it’s still a technology that needs to be driven by a purpose. The first and most critical que...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Recent failures of Matches, FarFetch, and Net-a-Porter has left Mythersea as the last luxe multi-brand standing. High spenders prefer to buy directly from brand companies like LVMH, Christian Dior, Gucci, and Hermès. And these luxe majors would rather sell directly to consumers than wholesale to a...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Consumers are speaking out. A class action lawsuit has been filed by two Hermès shoppers in Northern California who are fed up with sales tactics used by this luxury powerhouse.  They allege that the French luxury brand violates federal and California antitrust laws when selling its iconic status-s...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Don’t dismiss the power play of the growing community of content creators, recognized as the cultural leaders of the 21st century.  Proof? The creator economy market is expected to double to $480 billion by 2027.  Join Julian Greene, Head of Creator Partnerships at Flagship along with Robin and She...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Here is a tale of four female CEOs with contrasting and compelling leadership styles.  Take Mary Dillon, who led 288% revenue growth at Ulta but is now grappling with the past two years of slower growth at Footlocker. Contrast that with Fran Horowitz, CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, who has overseen...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Fashion ecomm has evolved from customers finding and visiting websites to seek out what they want, to search-enabled discovery, to today’s modern model of bringing fashion directly to you and replicating the excitement of impulse purchasing …online.  The art and science of the shopping experience h...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Tony Spring is creating a bold new chapter at Macy’s and he will inevitably face off with activist vultures. His strength as a strategic marketer should pave the way to a reimagined Macy’s.  Join Robin and Shelley as they dive into Spring’s strategic shift to close underperforming stores and open l...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! There’s a store across the street and thousands more just a key tap away. Consumers are addicted to the explosion of websites, marketplaces, and direct-to-consumer brands flooding cyberspace. The upside for consumers is lower prices and anything they want; the downside for brands is the impact on t...