This week’s newsletter is based on one question…
“What’s up with that?”
Because there is a bunch of stuff that I have been reading and my response to it is: What’s up with that?
Here’s my power ranking of head-scratching developments:
1 – The Toronto Transit Commission issued an RFI about opening retail storefronts on transit property to sell TTC-branded merch. We read it. It made little sense and we wondered why this was even put out there. Well, we heard (off the record) that leadership got excited by “Mind the Gap” merch and London Tube–themed product mixes after a visit to the UK. Newsflash TTC, you’re not the Tube and you have bigger problems to solve. For a TTC retail storefront, what’s up with that?
2 – Target is axing 1800 jobs because, according to incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke “Too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions, making it harder to bring ideas to life.” Funny. Brian Cornell is set to be executive chair of the board in 2026. His “executive presence” has triggered a shareholder proposal from The Accountability Group to block his appointment. With Cornell hovering in the background, what’s really changing? Target is becoming a good example of a dysfunctional organization doing dysfunctional things. What’s up with that?
3 – Go look at the product pages of Outdoor Voices. From a merchandising lens, it’s a disaster. I don’t understand the outfitting and the equestrian line is baffling. Also, I’m suspecting a disconnect between marketing, merchandising and product teams. Maybe I’m too dumb to appreciate the brand (and I could care less) or maybe this re-launch is going off the rails. What’s up with that?
4 – Uniqlo’s double digit growth and plans to scale in North America are impressive. What’s not impressive is their returns policy. If you buy online, you cannot return in store. Seamless inventory management across channels is not a nice to have. It’s a must-have. Remember, customers don’t see channels, they see brand. Uniqlo is not meeting their customer how they want to shop and return products. Hey Uniqlo, what’s up with that?
5 – Bangladesh’s interim government dropped more than 48,000 criminal cases against garment workers, mostly from 2023 wage protests. Reporting suggests these were mass, arbitrary filings meant to deter labor action. Brands routinely use leverage to push vendors for discounts. I’m curious to what extent they used that leverage to help workers in this situation. Or maybe they didn’t. What’s up with that?
These aren’t one-offs; they’re symptoms of familiar issues with poor merchandising, organizational dysfunction and broken processes.
Maybe next week, I’ll deliver a power ranking of outstanding, positive examples of process innovation or merchandising execution.
The working title is: That’s What’s Up.
