Great brands don’t die, they just fade away. And where do they go to expire? Authentic Brands Group, of course. Talk about rolling up a bunch of losers in fading-away mode: ABG partnered with another fade-away, Simon Properties (creating SPARC – Simon Properties Authentic Brands Retail Concepts). Now CEO David Simon is talking about putting ABG’s dying brands into an even more impressive fadeout: JC Penney. That deal with the ABG brands may indeed be an anchor (but of the reverse kind from what it used to mean) that will take the entire …
Amazon/MGM – Not What You Think
Over the past decade I’ve been blathering on about this being the distribution century, meaning that consumers and retailers, both armed with technology, would drive multitudes of different avenues of distribution. These new distribution channels are more convenient and faster for consumers; and more efficient, effective, and competitively advantageous for retailers and brands. Shared Platforms So, in trying to explain the distribution thesis more pragmatically, and with clarity, I describe how all retailers and brands could achieve targeted …
Macy’s Beyond the Numbers
Wow Macy’s...at least for now. Q1 results surprised and exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Furthermore, as CEO Jeff Gennette boldly stated about Macy’s Q1 financial results, “We don’t see this as a short-term pop.” Full of optimism, he said, “There will be a gigantic gift holiday. We are approaching it that way.” In fact, his ebullience over Q1 and outlook through back-to-school and the Holidays, prompted Macy’s to raise its full-year guidance for 2021. Behind the Numbers I’m going to skip past the actual numbers. You have probably already …
SPARC: A Losing Combo
SPARC: Maybe this acronym for the Simon Property Authentic Brands Retail Concepts was purposely crafted to send a message that many of the withering Simon Properties’ malls, co-owning and leasing spaces to many of the stale and losing brands in the Authentic Brands portfolio, would spark new life into both. I wrote about Simon and Brookfield’s acquisition of the dying JC Penney, Too Big to Fail stating that it was a short-term move to save Simon’s and Brookfield’s butts from a massive exit of not just JCP but also the hundreds of other …
Eat Your Credit Card
What would it take to get you to eat a credit card every week for an indeterminate amount of time? Answer: You’re already doing this voluntarily. When I first heard that there was a massive chunk of plastic in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas and three times the size of France called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, (GPGP), it blew my mind. But that concept is so abstract I just can’t get an in-my-face, personal feeling or tactile sensation. So, it eventually ends up in a part of my brain where I compartmentalize all the horrible …
Retail as It Was, Destroyed in One Decade
There was a meeting at FIT in the Fall of 2009 themed the CEO Roundtable. It was an urgent gathering of many of the major CEOs in the retail industry to discuss the horrific crisis of the financial and economic collapse at the beginning of the Great Recession. Retail leaders were hoping for any help they could get. Calling it a CEO Roundtable was a rather bland title; it should have been called the CEO Crisis Summit, or something like that. The idea for this meeting was created by Gilbert Harrison, founder and former CEO of Financo. This …
Inflation Worries? Not a Chance!
I feel safe aligning my economic view with that of Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, then with a bunch of traditional, last century economists who define inflation as it was during the most explosive growth period in U.S. history (1950 to 1980). They envision a post-pandemic economic surge, believing that the trillions of dollars fire hosed into the economy to keep it from collapsing will meet head on with consumers' post-pandemic pent-up demand, with trillions in personal savings …
Is Amazon Awesome…Apocalyptic…or Disruption 2.0?
Amazon as awesome or apocalyptic is a trick question. The answer requires a distinction of Amazon being awesome or apocalyptic to whom and why. If you were to simply answer the question at face value, the answer would be both. Disruption 2.0 refers to Amazon’s latest stealthy (or not) attempt to disrupt the world of physical retailing. But this time, I don’t think they know what they are in for. Maybe that’s why Jeff Bezos opted out of the Chief’s chair. Awesomeness Consumers would say Amazon is awesome for all the obvious reasons. In fact, …