The most pressing question facing our consumer society and economy is the one we keep asking each other: What's going to happen? David Ogilvy famously told his clients, "The consumer is your wife," and, while editing it a bit for changes in the workplace and culture, his dictum still holds: "The consumer is you. The consumer is me. The consumer is the person down the street. The consumer is us." And we, the consumers, are unsure of what will happen next and how we're going to react to THAT next worrisome thing that heads our way. Take …
With Neither a Bang nor a Whimper
It has taken a month or so for the new Covid-19 reality to do what two generations of business consultants, retail strategists and brand marketers have not been able to do: reinvigorate the center aisle of the grocery store. Take a walk through any food store in your new Covid protective mask. The once exciting peripheries chock-a-block with fresh kale of various heritages, artisanal cheeses and cage-free poultry parts are still robustly stocked. Move your cart into the once moribund middle corridors however, and you see how the zeitgeist has …
What Happened to Retail Relevance?
Let's review the bidding. The hottest bauble in Tiffany? A breakfast seat at the Blue Box Café. It's nearly impossible to get a reservation here, unless, of course, you're a high roller who's escorted into the Holly Golightly inspired eatery by your personal sales associate. Don't expect to gain entry based on the purchase of a sterling key chain. Nope. The smartest stocking stuffer this past Christmas season? The Dolce & Gabbana hand-wrapped pasta offered exclusively through Neiman-Marcus, augmented by the D&G bespoke small …
Everything Old is New Again, Retailers! Time to Imagine Reimagining?
I wrote Shopportunity! in 2006 as a plea to retailers and fashion brands to stop discounting the value of their wares. I pointed out the devastating erosion resulting from when all they did was shout out price and make up on volume on what they gave away on margin. I reported on consumers' irritation at coupons and discounts -- and then more discounts. For example, the lure to sign up for a credit card with an attractive discount, and then reveal those Sunday circular coupons squirreled away under the cash-wrap for more discounts. All this just …
Everything Old is New Again, Retailers! Time to Imagine Reimagining?Read More
Creating Diets Beyond the Diet
I was interviewed the other day by a reporter for the Commercial Observer, asking me about the "fast food" salad chain, Sweetgreen. Described by Wikipedia: "Sweetgreen is an American fast casual restaurant chain that serves salads. It was founded in August 2007 by Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman, three months after they graduated from Georgetown University's undergraduate business school." Their website describes their business as: "Simple, seasonal, healthy salads and grain bowls made in-house from scratch, using whole …
Hey Retailers! Real Growth Takes Real Risk
Where can real retail find real growth? Can it? Or are we doomed to the daily lamentations, ringing of hands and rending of garments as news slouches towards us of yet another chain which has gone bump in the night. Farewell Dress Barn. Next? We can bemoan fate, or can we possibly imagine a pathway forward for innovative retailers and/or fledgling startups? Herewith, my three favorite high-potential retail concepts. First up. The simplest: Duds Hub. You get it, right? A Grub Hub for apparel. If strangers on bikes can bring nachos, …
Retail’s Night at the Museum
I.M. Pei's recent death and consequent obituary in The New York Times puts us all in mind of his far-reaching impact. One of the typically unexplored consequences of his work is the process by which his 1987 pyramid at the Louvre augured more than a radical (and at least initially controversial) reimagining of historic architecture. By 1993, It had come to signal a new and remarkably vital exploration of context and content for the world of (wait for it) retail. And not incidentally, dining -- fine and otherwise. The first trip down his …
Six Hours in The Dark Heart of Retail
Thing One I learned: The Vessel is an empty, once-is-more-than-enough gesture. Thing Two I Learned: There is no future of retail, as in shopping in well-merchandised stores, without algorithmic assistance. Thing Three I Learned: A shopping experience inspired by and aspiring toward the aesthetics and feeling of an international departures terminal evokes discordant anxiety. Thing Four I Learned: The fury evoked by income inequality is aggressively metastasizing at Hudson Yards. Thing Five I Learned: Even if Hudson Yards were to …