Keep Pulling On The Thread

This edition of the newsletter comes from pulling on a thread and watching the spool unravel. Last week we looked at a new role at Lululemon focused on raw material operations. I got curious about the bigger picture. Why create a role like this, and what larger objectives is the brand chasing? While I was […]

The Voice of Retail Podcast: The Material Life

In this episode of The Voice of Retail podcast, Liza Amlani, Principal of Retail Strategy Group, explores the ideas behind her new book on process innovation in fashion retail ‘The Material Life: Process Innovation for Retailers and Brands”. Liza explains why materials, not designs, should drive product creation, how silos inside retail organizations erode margin […]

Material Ops.

Generally, LinkedIn is full of junk. My favorite is when someone starts a post with “This might be a hot take, but….” And then proceeds to blather about nothing. However, a scroll through the feed does yield the occasional gem that is worth a closer look. In this case, a job posting. I found a […]

Marketing, Merchandising, Misaligned

Let’s talk marketing for a moment. Here are some interesting, marketing-related headlines that are “retail relevant” 1 – Luxury fashion brand Chrome Hearts buys Surfrider Hotel in Malibu for ~$37.5M, one of California’s priciest per-room hotel deals. 2 – Under Armour launches Lab96 Studios, a new in-house content studio to tell athlete stories in cinematic, […]

The Afterlife

I’m kicking off with a little shameless self-promotion. If that’s not your thing, skip it, unsubscribe, whatever you like. But there’s a reason I’m bringing it up, so hear me out. I advise executives at retailers, brands and at various retail-adjacent companies. When I started this work, I assumed most conversations would be about merchandising […]

That’s What’s Up.

Raj launched his “power ranking” style newsletter last week to highlight the moments that made him ask, “What’s up with that?” Half-joking, he said this week would flip the script with a ranking of positive developments titled “That’s What’s Up.” I loved it so much, I decided to write it. So, welcome to Liza’s That’s […]

Equality Is Overrated

If every style rides the same track, your calendar jams and margins get squeezed. In our new Sourcing Journal piece, we argue that product creation needs Acceptable Inequality: replenishment gets an express lane, core runs local, innovation runs in perpetuity. That’s how you ship on time, protect working capital, and free up sampling capacity for […]

Betting On Selling

As seen over at Retail Dive… Saks Global is betting big on its Top Seller Program. Saks wants to bring in talented stylists with a roster of clients / Rolodex. Increasing sales through loyal customers that trust their ‘person’ no matter what department store (or department) they work in is a great move. The challenge […]

What’s Up With That?

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 […]

Liza Amlani Named to NRF’s Top 50 Voices for 2026

I am honored to share that I have been selected as one of the top 50 NRF Retail Voices for 2026! This is my 2nd time as an NRF Retail Voice and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s a recognition that celebrates industry leaders shaping the future of retail. I believe that process innovation (not […]