The Retail Wrap-Up

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we talk to Wayne Baskin, the Deputy CEO and Chief Technology Officer at Australia’s largest online bookstore, Booktopia During this podcast you’ll hear Wayne discuss the importance of putting the customer first, finding your niche (and owing it) and well as a really interesting look into the book categories that took off during COVID. Wayne also talks about the...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we talk to Dean Jones, the Co-Founder and CEO of GlamCorner. Founded by Dean and his wife, Audrey, in 2012, GlamCorner is the leading online destination for women in Australia to rent designer fashion. The company is on a Mission to revolutionise the way fashion is consumed by providing a smarter and more sustainable alternative that is better for our community...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we talk to Tennealle O'Shannessy, the CEO of Adore Beauty,  Australia’s largest online beauty retailer. Whilst their latest success might look like it happened overnight, it actually began in 1999 when Founder, Kate Morris, asked her parents for a loan of $12k to set up her business, which she ran out of her garage. Fast forward 20 years and  Adore Beauty j...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we talk to Gabby Leibovich. Gabby and his brother, Hezi, are the Co-Founders of Australia’s #1 e-commerce marketplace, Catch of the Day. He is also a shareholder in Luxury Escapes, and the Co-Founder of both Scoopon and Eatnow, who merged with Menulog. During the course of our conversation with Gabby we talk about: How catch.com.au was built, grown and eventuall...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we shift gears a little to look at the high-end retail industry, talking to the director of the luxury watch (Rolex, Patek Philippe etc) and jewellery business, J. Farren-Price, Julian Farren Price. During the course of our conversation we talk about: How this segment of the market is performing; The importance of personalised service; The product as an exp...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Sabrina Noorani, who is the CEO and Founder of ClearForMe. ClearForMe is an independent cloud-based platform enabling beauty brands and retailers to seamlessly bring ingredient clarity to shoppers. This is a platform that is being used by both Credo Beauty + Ulta Beauty in the US. Even if you're not in the beauty industry this episode speaks to a br...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Will Chomley. Will is the founder and CEO of IMAGR. Founded in 2017 in Auckland, this is a tech platform that is turning shopping carts into autonomous checkouts – with their so-called Smart Cart product. SmartCart's contain four cameras, coupled with the world's most powerful AI vision recognition system. As a result, SmartCart knows what a cu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Tom Szaky. Tom is the CEO of the social enterprise TerraCycle. TerraCycle (the parent company of Loop) has partnered with some of the world's largest retailers like Carrefour (France), Tesco (UK), Kroger (US), Walgreens (US), and soon Woolworths in Australia. They are on a mission to reduce waste and recycle the unrecyclable. In this discussion toda...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Richard Umbers. Richard has held leadership positions in Aldi’s UK operations, Woolworths (both in NZ + Australia), at Australia Post + Startrack, as well as being the CEO MD at Myer and most recently working for the German-based Kaufland. Richard is an incredible thinker, who has an astute understanding the effect of macro trends and changes upon busine...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we talk to Laura Beres. Laura is the Director of Corporate Strategy at Ulta Beauty. For those of you unfamiliar with Ulta, it is the largest U.S. beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. In 1990, the Company reinvented the beauty retail experience by offering a new way...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode we talk to Annie Jackson. Annie is the co-founder and COO of Credo Beauty. If you haven’t heard of Credo, it’s a clean beauty retailer – in fact it’s the largest Clean Beauty store on the Planet. It opened in 2015 in her home town of San Francisco. Since then, they have opened 9 stores (with a large online presence) and have partnered with over 130 brands all of...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode - which is approx 49 mins long - we talk to Stefan Preston. I don’t know how else to describe Stefan but as a serial entrepreneur. Stefan graduated from the University of Auckland with a degree in Civil Engineering, and after a stint in construction he moved into retail. He’s helped turnaround New Zealand brands Whitcoulls, Pacific Retail and Lingerie business, Ben...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, which is approx 45 minutes, we talk to Donna Player. Donna is the Merchandise Director at the iconic label Camilla, as well as Non Executive Director of Accent Group and Baby Bunting. Prior to that she was the Group Executive of Merchandise at David Jones and GM of Merchandise and Planning at Big W. I’m going to call her the Queen of Merchandise. Donna has the rar...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, which is approx 38 minutes, we talk to Erica Berchtold. Erica is CEO of pure-play retailer The Iconic. Prior to joining The Iconic in 2019, she was the Managing Director of Rebel Sport and Amart Sports (part of Super Retail Group). During our time together, we talk about:  How The Iconic responded during COVID-19? (They were one of the first to take note and even...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, which is approx 43 minutes, we talk to Steve Cox. Steve is the CEO of Destination NSW, overseeing Tourism and Events within the state. Steve joined the government agency on May 4th amidst the COVID-19 epidemic. Prior to his current role, Steve was the Managing Director of Dymocks Books. During our time together we talk about:  What Steve has learnt in the transiti...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, which is approx 37 minutes, we talk to the Richard Facioni. Richard is the Executive Director of Alceon Group overseeing an extensive retail and consumer groups portfolio which covers the brands - Ginger + Smart, Surfstich, Mosaic Group (inc. Noni B), Cheap as Chips and more; plus controls the license for Lego stores in Australia. During our time together, we talk...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode which is approx 39 minutes, we talk to the Susan MacDonald. Susan is the Head of Retail at Mirvac, who own and run 18 centres across Australia including Broadway, Birkenhead Point, Tramsheds and the MetCentre. Added to that, she is also the Joint Deputy Chair of The Shopping Centre Council of Australia. Arguably one of the sharpest minds (and best thinkers) in reta...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode which is approx 35 minutes, we talk to the Daniel Agostinelli. Dan is the Group CEO of what is arguably Australias leading Footwear business. For those of you less familiar Accent Group is comprised of 11 retail divisions (including - The Athlete's Foot, Platypus, Hype DC, StyleRunner etc); 10 wholesale divisions (including - Vans, Dr. Martens, Sketchers, Merr...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we chat to Chris Wilesmith. Chris is currently the CEO of Mitre 10 New Zealand. Prior to this role he was the Managing Director of the Auto Division at Super Retail Group, where he lead the Super Cheap Auto business. Outside of business Chris is a mountain climber, who has attempted to summit Everest three times in the last couple of years. That sheer level of dete...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode - which is about 30 minutes - we talk to John Slack-Smith. John is a life-long retailer having started at the iconic Australian electronics retailer, Harvey Norman, more than 23 years ago. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Executive Director at Harvey Norman. On top of this he is a non-Executive Director with the Children's Tumour F...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode - which is about 50 minutes - we talk to Lorna Jane Clarkson, the queen of Athleisure and founder of the iconic brand Lorna Jane. From starting out as a fitness instructor making her own clothes (filling that pre-activewear gap in the market), she now operates over 200 stores in Australia and the US, as well as being stocked in Europe, UK, China and NZ. In...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode - which is about 30 minutes - we talk to Rachel Kelly. Rachel has a long history in Australian retail, having worked at Just Group (Just Jeans, Jacqui E, Jay Jays, Portmans, Peter Alexander, Dotti, and Smiggle) and then becoming the Global CEO for the Tea Brand T2; Rachel has since gone on from there to work with arguably one of the biggest game changers Au...