Paul Smith

In an interview with Footwear News last month, Sir Paul Smith said that he still works at his Mayfair store in London every Saturday. Is he sitting in the back of the store looking at spreadsheets? Absolutely not. He is out there with customers. Talking to them, helping them, learning from them. In his own […]

I Hear Voices

The brand, Outdoor Voices, has taken a rather wild (and peculiar) ride toward bankruptcy. Late last month, it was reported that the majority of the corporate staff was laid off and stores were abruptly closed. One might wonder what caused this brand to stumble and fall flat on its face. Oh yes, that’s right. Another […]

You’ll Need More Than Culinary Clichés

A recent WSJ article had an interview with new Macy’s CEO, Tony Spring, who loves using food metaphors to talk retail. “It doesn’t take a lot of baking powder to make bread, but without it you don’t have bread.” The meaning being: little things can make a big difference. Tony will need more than culinary […]

Hubble Trouble

The Vision Monday Leadership Summit is where vision leaders get together before the Vision West Expo at Javits Convention Center. Speakers presented on the latest technology in fashion and healthcare — and the bulk of the focus was, of course, on AI. My presentation closed off a day of discussing data, AI, and technology. Keeping the customer […]

Influence Doesn’t Grow A Business

“An emaciated, predatory tiger as the logo.” On a sports podcast I was listening to, that was the comment made in reaction to the launch of Sun Day Red. In case you haven’t heard, Sun Day Red is the new apparel brand of golf legend, Tiger Woods. We took a closer look at the brand […]

Irritatingly Creating Demand

I like things that provoke a reaction. Outrage, especially that which is expressed via social media, is a particular favorite. At the moment, very loud outrage at the presence of Taylor Swift at NFL games is particularly entertaining. Her attendance is apparently irritating to many football fans. And at the same time, the NFL benefits […]

Providers to Partners

Retailers can benefit by adopting a mindset of “From Providers to Partners.” The intention is to transform relationships. This applies to both internal relationships (within the organization) and external ones (factories and vendor partners). For internal relationships, product development teams can reduce significant amounts of failure work if functions like Sourcing and Materials are actively […]

Dr. No

Even if you’re not a football fan, you likely saw football news on a TV somewhere. Notably, New England Patriots coach, Bill Belichick, has parted ways with with team after 24 years. His career is punctuated with six Super Bowl wins as a head coach. What’s interesting is how the tail end of his career […]

Preventing Returns

It’s a recurring theme every year when the calendar flips to Jan 1st. No, not resolutions, but rather the wave of returned merchandise after the holiday shopping season. And returns are swiftly becoming a trillion-dollar event. Retailers are also charging customers for returns to help tighten the grip on margin. Customers on local TV here […]

Being Right vs. Getting it Right

A retail executive told us they felt that their organization is too rigid and employees do not push the boundaries of their creativity. Risk-taking is discouraged and has been for some time. Instead of generating new ideas, employees worry about “coloring within the lines.” In other words, they want to be right — like trying […]