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Guest: Kimberly Minor, CEO of Women of Color Retail Alliance
The growing significance of the multicultural population, which will become the majority in the U.S. by 2050, will drive brands to integrate DEI authentically into their practices. Millennials, Gen Z and Alphas expect companies to reflect their values and are increasingly directing their spending toward those that do so. Join Shelley and Kimberly Minor, CEO of WOC Retail Alliance, as they discuss how to rethink DEI by understanding why embracing diversity isn't just a social cause but a business imperative. Listen in as they debunk myths around DEI initiatives and urge brands to reclaim a DEI culture for both customers and employees.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
The C-suite is undergoing a transformation with modern leadership becoming digitally savvy and keyed into the importance of customer behavior and mindsets. Join special guest Brenda Malloy, CEO of Herbert Mines Associates, and Shelley as they sit down to discuss leadership in the retail industry, focusing on stakeholders’ evolving expectations of CEOs and the critical attributes CEOs need for success in today's dynamic market. There is pressure to increase diversity and representation in the C-suite, particularly for women and BIPOC leaders. Brenda also provides insights into why some executives, including Mary Dillon and Brian Connell, are crossing over to retail from other sectors. And not to mention, but Gen Alpha is entering the workforce: Are retail leaders ready?
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Special Guests: Jennifer Peterson Community Engagement Chief at Edwards Companies and Brian Bernstein, Principal of REALM Collaborative
Mixed-use spaces have been reshaping urban development, and retail plays an essential role in the vibrancy of these public spaces. Jennifer Peterson and Brian Bernstein join Shelley to talk about trends in commercial real estate and urban development, and how collaborative partnerships can transform the success of these projects. Learn about the vital role community engagement plays in these projects, the benefits to cities, and what brands and retailers can do to tap into this trend. Hear real-world examples of the challenges and opportunities for retail in urban development and how public spaces can shape customer experiences and bring value to owners.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Ace Hardware is on a roll.
It just debuted its new store concept Elevate Ace, designed on input from its suppliers, store owners, and shareholders. Reflecting shifts in consumer shopping behavior, the new store focuses on enhanced customer service with branded in-store experiences.
Join special guest John Venhuizen, CEO of Ace Hardware, and Shelley as they discuss how the company has transformed from a family-owned business to a global cooperative. Celebrating 100 years with a community focus, Ace’s unique business model allows entrepreneurs to become local store owners and shareholders of Ace Hardware Corporation.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Are you ready to revolutionize your approach to employee engagement and customer loyalty? A new wave is growing of the critical importance of focusing on employee experience (EX) as the foundation for creating exceptional customer experiences (CX). Join special guest Matt Mueller, a retail renegade devoted to creating retail experiences that electrify, and Shelley as they shake up everything you thought you knew about today’s retail workforce. Learn how to flip the script on how stores innovate and operate.
Special Guest
Matt Mueller, globally recognized retail innovation strategist and author of best-seller “The Mindful Innovator.”For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 failure rate, which begs the obvious question if this deal is a viable strategy for the two luxury brands. Join Mark and Shelley as they debate the leadership decisions at Hudson Bay and Saks Global and if this is another desperate example of the last-man-standing rationale rather than a visionary move.
The absence of strong merchant leadership in both companies may be its ultimate downfall. While the FTC shouldn’t have a problem with the merger, there are growing concerns about the financial integrity of Saks, most notably since the company isn’t paying its vendors, the lifeblood of a luxury designer brand. Listen in and get the full story about the turmoil behind the merger.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 the unique perspectives of Gen Z that frame the bigger picture about the state of our nation, now and post-election.
Their conversation also touches on the different needs and challenges faced by small local retailers compared to large corporations in an uneven retail landscape. Listen and learn from our provocative predictions!For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 unprecedented visibility into customer behavior.
Join special guest George Shaw, CEO and Founder of Pathr.ai, and Shelley as they discuss how spatial Intelligence captures data to reveal a deeper understanding of how customers shop in-store. AI-powered technologies can drive store layout optimizations, product placement, and marketing promotion effectiveness.
Find out how Pathr uses a retailer’s existing cameras to provide merch and marketing teams with real-time, actionable insights that help drive key business decisions.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 focus on responsiveness to meet these high expectations.
Join Shelley and guests Melissa Gonzalez and Matthew Goelzer, Principals of MG2, as they discuss the pivotal role of supply chain management in modern retail. Their conversation highlights the importance of agility, the rise of unified commerce approaches, the potential of AI, and innovative strategies that are reshaping the industry.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 people, so they developed The Joy Project and enlisted the help of motivational speaker and podcast host Mel Robbins to empower customers and their workforce of 53,000 to embrace and experience joy.
Join Shelley and Michelle Crossan-Matos, Chief Marketing Officer of Ulta Beauty as they discuss how Ulta Beauty has prompted a national conversation about the barriers to joy and how to overcome them. Their discussion reveals how the program can transform a negative, self-criticism conversation into a supportive, connected community.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 Shelley and Jennifer Downes, Lenovo’s CMO of Global eCommerce, as they discuss how attracting repeat customers for a business based on infrequent purchases requires innovative thinking.
The new Lenovo customer-centric approach has resulted in a 28 percent increase in digital orders. Listen and learn!
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 entrepreneur facing the challenges of American-made production. Join Shelley and Bayard as they talk about his epic start-up journey and the new partnership between American giant and Walmart with the just-released line of American Made T-shirts.
How do you change the conversation about the future of domestic apparel production? Listen and find out.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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. Kohan and special guest Ronit Eliav, Chief Marketing Officer of Nexite as they discuss how virtual apparel tracking maps with real-time data lets your merchandise seamlessly tell you their entire life story -- from the factory floor to their final destination in the customers’ closet.
The win/win? A deeper emotional connection with the customer through trusted, transparent intelligence.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 efficiency to drive performance. While new leadership can create a new vision, who’s the right fit?
Join Robin and Shelley as they deconstruct three iconic brands operating with bold new strategies. Competition is fierce, product is king, and consumer affinity is key. Who will be the winners and losers in the retail game?For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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, future retail CEOs may come from unexpected places.
Pepsi has become the poster child for launching retail CEOs: Brian Cornell of Target, Lauran Hobart of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Vivek Sankaran of Albertsons, and Mary Dillon of Foot Locker. Can retailers steal a page from Pepsi’s playbook?
Liza Amlani, Principal and Founder of Retail Strategy Group joins Robin and Shelley to talk about how leadership needs to be able to connect products to customers, which typically happens when talent is groomed from within. They also discuss how retailers can retain talent by giving frontline jobs a quicker route to the top.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 for every business decision we make," according to Pete Nordstrom.
Two industry giants, Bob Spector, and Paco Underhill, join Robin and Shelley as they discuss how Nordstrom’s culture that is focused on the customer experience has been maintained over the course of 123 years … and counting. They discuss the role of technology in enhancing the customer experience and how to combine high touch with high tech. Don’t miss this fascinating look at the inside story and backstory on one of America’s most beloved retail brands.
Special Guests
Robert Spector, Author, The Century Old Startup: The Nordstrom Way of Embracing Change, Challenges, and a Culture of Customer ServicePaco Underhill, Author, Why We Buy, Call of the Mall, What Women Want, and How We Eat
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 changes happening all at once.
Join Robin and Shelley as they discuss the hot topics in today’s retail environment, including what Walmart’s recent earning report means, what’s up with CEO Kevin Plank rejoining the brand he created (think how entrepreneurs need professional and disciplined leadership to stabilize growth), and the not-so-hot furniture and home furnishings business. Layer on top of the challenges of remote and hybrid work, and you’ve got a provocative look at how the retail industry is under rapid fire from all fronts.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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 identifies as a person of color, despite over 30 percent of outdoor participants identifying as such. REI is addressing that gap with its Path Ahead Ventures launched in 2021 to focus on providing support and solidarity to outdoor businesses that are BIPOC owned and led.
REI is making a difference as a leader in supporting outdoor businesses that are owned by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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, joins Robin and Shelley to talk about how this online payment platform increases purchasing power for consumers with interest-free installment plans.
Listen in to learn why BNPL is in such a growth mode (Sezzle reports a 33 percent increase in Q1) and what’s happening in the payment solution market. They will also debunk the popular myths surrounding BNPL.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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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. Three years into the venture, they walked away. Now Walmart is closing its clinics and telehealth services because it’s just not a sustainable business model. Join Robin and Shelley as they reveal why retail healthcare isn’t panning out for the big brands. The complex system of reimbursements among providers, insurance companies, and the government makes healthcare difficult to scale and unprofitable for nontraditional players. This is a big story. Listen and learn!For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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