Recapping My Time at Enterprise Ireland NYC
Last week, I spent a few days with Enterprise Ireland and some fantastic Irish brands in NYC. The brands were in town to study the US market and find opportunities for growth. We also went on retail safaris, checked out Coterie and the latest insights from the Accessories Council. My job was to teach them […]
Recap of Mastercard’s Excellence in Customer Engagement Summit
Last week, I participated in Mastercard’s Excellence in Customer Engagement Summit. Part of my day involved being in conversation with Angie Rieger, Chief Transformation Officer of Lands’ End, and Emilie Kroner, SVP of Retail & Commerce of Mastercard. We discussed how retail transformation is shaping the customer journey. But, there were other learnings from my […]
Try Putting a Rock in Your Shoe
Week three of the NFL season is coming and and it is a rather exciting time of the year. Moreso than the games, I’m interested in the business of the game and the personalities of the coaches and executives. Bill Parcells is one of them. A classic story about him is the one about the […]
The Best Way to Get to Know Your Customers. Hint: Not AI.
I was reading through The Globe and Mail and found a rather curious headline: “The demise of Jaguar is a sad reality for anyone who loves cars.” I’m not the biggest car enthusiast, but I read through the opinion piece. Turns out that Jaguar will axe all of its current models of cars and switch […]
Recapping NCSU’s AI in Textiles and Fashion Conference
I visited North Carolina State University last week to attend their first ever “AI in the Textiles & Fashion Industries” conference. The event was a good mix of showcasing some research being done at the Wilson College of Textiles, identifying areas where AI will be impactful and panel discussions with people from industry. Much of […]
Just Shove It Onto The Shelf
Our colleague, Neil Saunders, posts shop floor pictures on LinkedIn during store visits. When he does, I grab the popcorn and scroll through his post and the comments. Neil doesn’t mince words when describing both the good and bad of his visits. Recently, he discussed Kohl’s and their relaunch of Limited Too in their stores. […]
Reporting From Iceland
We took a short break from exploring middle of nowhere Iceland to visit a few stores in Reykjavik. Vintage stores, small boutiques and tourist traps are abundant. One store stood out with the most beautiful and dynamic windows. I wanted showcase the importance of visual merchandising that connects product to the brand message. Rammagerdin is […]
Seller Beware
In Daniel Pink’s book “To Sell is Human,” he outlines how at one point in time, sellers had power over customers because they had almost exclusive access to information. The term “buyer beware” would apply here. Fast forward to today, where customers have access to more information than ever before. They can do extensive homework […]
More Supply Equals More Demand, Right?
The term “second apron” should be very familiar to basketball fans. The term refers to a provision in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement related to a team’s salary cap. The cap is the amount of money that a team is allowed to spend on their roster. Teams can (and do) go over the salary cap, […]
Recapping My Time at The Lead
The Lead Summit conference wasn’t the only thing that was lit last week. NYC was HOT! Amid the heat was one retail executive dinner, podcast interviews, and an hour spent on stage in conversation with colleagues. Here is my recap: First up, our retail executive dinner which was an invite-only affair with leaders from Theory, […]