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 …
Calling the Retail Innovation/Disruption Bluff
One of the debilitating downsides of having been a card-carrying futurist with Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve is learning the dirty little secret of big companies' off-stated quests for innovation and their vociferous lip service championing of disruption. Here it is: Like the weather, everyone talks a great deal about retail innovation, but nobody (in these big clunky companies) ever does anything about it. Except, of course, when they swallow up some startup and then dumb it down. Retail Woes Retailers, designers, manufacturers: You know the …
Gucci Gets It Wrong
Recent headlines: Gucci and Prada Aim for Outrageousness, Instead They Get Outrage (CBS Moneywatch) Gucci Apologizes and Removes Sweater Following 'Blackface' Backlash (NPR) Spike Lee, T.I. Boycott Gucci, Prada over "Blackface" Fashion (NBC) One credible explanation for the recent spate of designer looks spit out by the culture is that there are racists in couture, as there are nearly everywhere else in society. But another explanation is actually more troubling: As Big Luxe has become ever bigger business it appears probable that …
Whatever’s Old Is New Again by Coming Around Again
The profitable world of previously-owned is not just for Mercedes anymore. Consider the emerging retail reality: Empty storefronts on Main Street, shuttered malls, bankrupt chains. Could it be that consumers have lost interest in the acquisition of new stuff? That a consumer economy has, yes, morphed into the long-foretold experience economy? That LVMH's decision to enter the luxury cruise market is simply one further storm cloud serving as the forerunner of the retail tsunami on the horizon? My 19-year-old daughter's absolute favorite …
As the Pillars of Society Shift, What’s a Brand to Do?
Faith Popcorn is a world-renowned futurist. She runs a company called Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve which helps the Fortune 100 figure out how to fit their businesses into a world that doesn’t quite exist yet, but will. How does she do it? She identifies trends roiling through the global culture and then culls the list to focus on those which are at least 10 years ahead of their time. In other words, she identifies trends, not fads. The cultural wave I’m most intrigued with at the moment is Icon Toppling. What is it? According to Popcorn, “The …
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Chicken or the Egg: Death of Fashion or Death of Retail?
Consider that in 2017, 5,000 stores closed, 21 chains filed for bankruptcy and 106 million square feet of retail were vacated. Pretty bad, right? Well then, consider 2018 thus far. Look at the numbers for the first quarter: 3,800 more stores closed, six more bankruptcies, 90 more million square-feet of retail vacated -- and the folks who forecast such things estimate that 25 percent more malls will close. There can be no doubt there is a sea change in how we shop and how we buy underway. Surely, the contributing factors require a regression …
Chicken or the Egg: Death of Fashion or Death of Retail?Read More