Beauty is a beautiful idea. Just ask Gap Inc. The company has announced plans for a phased beauty rollout, starting with “test and learn” in Old Navy. The upside sounds…
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The Chief Merchant Journal
The fashion manufacturing and product development space is evolving fast. Naturally, this brings new opportunities but growth can be limited by persistent constraints. In our work with market leading brands,…
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Broken communication leads to lost profit. You can find any number of examples of this across industries. Retail is no exception. I’ll give you an example from my own experience.…
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Second day in London and I need to grocery shop. I slam down the double espresso and march over to the Marks & Spencer on King’s Road. The first thing…
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Picture it… We’re cruising down a toll road in Spain towards Alicante. Toll paid, the barrier lifts, we accelerate. “Hey, what happened to the side mirror?” Liza says casually. I…
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I love donuts. I’m especially partial to mini cinnamon sugar. Oh, and donuts branded as “Floopy’s” that I can find at any Lidl location here in Spain. You know who…
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Here are three observations that I have made regarding brands and their efforts to outsource design, sourcing and product development. 1 - Global apparel brand: Hired an existing vendor to…
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Amazon announced they're doubling down on Prime Day. In July, Prime Day will span four days. "We're extending it to four days because our members have told us they just…
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“When you say partnership, I hear: You have no money.” I read that on LinkedIn sometime ago. I used to think that was funny. Then the “strategic partnership opportunity” emails…
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When Halston made a deal with J.C. Penney in 1983, the designer wanted to expand his “brand diffusion” experiment to a broader audience. Halston would launch “Halston III,” a diffusion…
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ESPN is going all in on DTC. Bob Iger is crowning it the network’s boldest play since grabbing the full NFL schedule in ’87. Chair Jimmy Pitaro calls it “the…
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Dysfunctional organizations do dysfunctional things. You don’t have to look too hard to find examples of such dysfunction. Let’s look at an NFL team like the Cleveland Browns. Some refer…
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The following is taken from a fresh new article from Retail Insider: "Enterprise Ireland is set to host its first-ever consumer retail showcase in Toronto on April 29, 2025, bringing…
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In 141 days, the new NFL season will kick off. I can’t wait to see the fan outrage about how the league is rigged whenever the Kansas City Chiefs take…
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“We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us.” - Winston Churchill Yes, there is some coincidence that I quoted a wartime prime minister after the events of last week…
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Retail Dive recently reported that Old Navy had quietly added occasionwear to their product mix. Affordable occasionwear is saturated by ultra-fast fashion and marketplaces like Amazon. Finding such product in…
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Let’s discuss denim for a moment. As many of you know, I was a merchant for the bulk of my retail career. And, during those days, I bought a ton…
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Microsoft’s AI Tour is making the rounds in its global tour. Toronto was a recent stop. Alysa Taylor, CMO of Commercial Cloud & AI, and Chris Barry, former President of…
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Fashion types can be wound up pretty tight. Fashion brands, however, should learn from software and tighten up even more. When it comes to feedback loops, the cream of the…
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“What’s old is new.” Nah, old is old. “We’ve got to get back to our roots.” Really? Have you ever heard of a tree leaving its roots behind and trying…
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