Robin Lewis

Malls Wedded Department Stores: Now a Collapsing 64-Year Marriage

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The wedding took place in 1956 in Edina, Minnesota with the opening of Southdale Center, the first enclosed mall in the U.S. Its beloved anchor spouse was Dayton's department store. At the time, if an astute marriage counselor had defined the term "anchor" as a grip on the bottom of a vessel to restrict its movement, the world might have foreseen the eventual collapse of what was once a beautiful marriage. Here's how it worked in 1956 and up to 2000: the department stores attracted traffic (paying little to no rent) and the malls brought in a …

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Covid’s Accelerant on the Future of Retail

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Everyone is looking for a silver bullet. I've argued forever that understanding the data leads us in the right direction for running a business that has a profitable future. Good news: A quick snapshot of July's retail performance could be a bellwether about the pandemic's impact on the future of retail. Let's not get too excited, but the increase in total retail sales of 6.8 percent (excluding auto, gasoline and restaurants) from the same month last year may be surprising, all things considered. Discretionary Spending However, there are two …

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Subscription Models: Another Post Pandemic Winner

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In 2016 I wrote an article titled, Personalization The Next and Biggest Thing. The opening lines were "Bring it to me, just for me, new, now & more often." Pay attention to this advice. And now listen with great attention to what I'm about to say. The bar has been fundamentally raised on consumers' expectations in this transformational decade. Not incrementally raised, it's been raised to a level that will require fundamental leaps forward in what you must do to meet those expectations. Just for Me You must relentlessly pursue the …

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The Value of Lifelong Learning

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It's easy to talk about lifelong learning in an abstract sense. Nobody would argue that, as a retail leader, you should continue educating yourself as the field evolves - particularly considering the disruptions the pandemic has sparked. Continuing education has proven to boost confidence and credentials in managing a team. An impressive 63 percent of adults in the U.S. have taken a professional class or training in the past year. Maintaining expertise - especially fast-moving tech prowess -- is both a professional responsibility and a …

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Heading into the Homestretch, It’s Sycamore by a Mile

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During this whirlwind of retail bankruptcies, while the pandemic rages on with no end in sight, it should be a field day for private equity firms, awash in cash, to swoop in like vultures to acquire these bankrupt retailers on the cheap. However, several experts in the space told me that many of them are holding their "powder" (not acquiring) because of the big unknown. That is, without some indication of when the pandemic will end, how it will end and when consumers will feel safe enough to return to physical shopping. What will the ultimate …

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Macy’s and Unsubscribed…Who?

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I have this theory that the future post-pandemic retail landscape will be populated by the giant-sized retailers who have successfully survived their pre-Covid downward trend, as well as surviving the downward slope post-Covid. However, since the big brands have such expertise in AI and analytics to drive personalization, including localization, they will change their business models. They will only keep their giant footprints or flagships in select, outperforming urban areas and A-ranked malls (but only AFTER they have been converted into …

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Signals of a New Normal

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The Robin Report recently conducted a survey among readers to check the retail industry's pulse regarding how their business is being affected by the three major issues and challenges of the day: Covid-19, the economy, and social injustice. We were also able to gain an understanding of the short- and long-term views on the U.S. economy, how business models would be transforming, as well as some new operational functions driven by the virus that will stick going forward. The New Normal as Defined by the Consumer One of our questions was: …

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Shoptalk Meetup: Another First from Anil Aggarwal

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Shoptalk Meetup was announced less than two weeks ago and with more than 2,000 attendees from over 1,000 companies registered, it's already the fall's largest retail event. Attendance is capped, so you better get on the waitlist now. I've said it before, and I'm saying it again, Anil Aggarwal, founder of Shoptalk, is a master disruptor. When he talks about connecting the retail ecosystem through industry events, he lives and speaks in terms of thousands (attendees) and millions (investment dollars). And those numbers have kept growing with …

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