I will state my opinion right up front. I believe Richard Baker's move to split the Saks Fifth Avenue and its ecommerce business into separate companies, which he calls "unlocking value," is simply applying a fancy buzzword, disguising what will ultimately lead to a real estate play. The reality is somewhere, way down deep in his real estate DNA, he clearly sees his personal cash-generating machine where it always has been -- in real estate. So, don't fall for unlocking value in the retail enterprise as a strategy to improve and accelerate the …
Activist Pirates Attack Kohl’s
I've seen this horrible movie before with one notable actor leading the attack on Children's Place in 2015. Johnathan Duskin, CEO Macellum Advisors GP, is apparently leading the sequel, "Activist Pirates Attack Kohl's," along with Legion Partners Holdings, Ancora Advisors and 4010 Capital, (with an equity position of just under 10 percent). They are determined to replace five board seats (down from nine) ostensibly to drive cost cutting, including executive pay packages. The activists also want to boost revenues and margins through better …
Nordstrom’s New Game Plan
I'm commenting on Nordstrom's latest strategic moves: their brick-and-mortar localization and online positioning, the "Closer to You" program and their concession strategy. However, before I do, I want to put these strategic moves into the proper context. They all emanate from a philosophy embedded in the Nordstrom's DNA from day one. And you know what it is. Nonetheless, I will repeat it just to connect the dots from where they started to the evolution of their current strategies. What a Quaint Philosophy: The Customer First How many times …
Beyond Retail: Walmart’s “Everything Service”
The Beyond Burgers brand reflects a sea change of a whole new generation of environmental and animal friendly consumers. New products and new business models are emerging at an accelerated pace, driven by consumers and envisioned by savvy, progressive thinking CEOs. So, it strikes me that Walmart CEO Doug McMillon's investor day announcement that they would use their physical and digital platforms to drive businesses beyond retail -- from advertising to health care (and more) -- is the beginning of a new tech era portfolio business model, made …
Caruso: Community Creator
I had a "history brought forward" moment last week. It was a discussion with Rick Caruso, CEO of Caruso, one of the largest and most admired private real estate developers in the U.S. In fact, "most admired" would be an understatement from my point of view. In addition to being an innovator, civic leader on several fronts in LA and a generous philanthropist, he's also a giant visionary in the retail world who began successfully implementing his vision in the early 90s. Theory to Practice Caruso has an uncanny ability to see what's coming …
Supreme: Hot and Cool with VF
We didn't honor VF Corporation as a Robin Report 2020 Retail Radical of The Year for nothing. You can read all about it here. Radical is not a hyperbolic description, because what VF and their brands do in reality, with year-over-year regularity, is…well…supreme. Supreme's Next Chapter I'm not trying to be cute. I just couldn't pass the prescience of VF's supreme move of acquiring the Supreme brand, which indeed has had a supreme position since its inception in 1994 within the streetwear culture (AKA gorpcore as of a minute ago). For $2.1 …
Did Marc Lore Get the Walmart Boot? Or Mission Accomplished?
Marc Lore announced his departure from his role as President and CEO of Walmart's ecommerce business (which included Jet.com prior to its being shut down in June of 2020 and absorbed into walmart.com) at the end of January. Was it a "mission accomplished," moment or was he given the boot? If it's the latter, it was nine months ahead of his five-year agreement to remain as a Walmart employee until September of 2021, at which time he would have received his full payout, (including a stock valuation of roughly $150 million, according to …
Did Marc Lore Get the Walmart Boot? Or Mission Accomplished?Read More
That Was the Year That Was…and Wasn’t
The genesis of the state of the retail industry today in the U.S. began about a quarter century ago as a slowly rolling transformation resulting from the launch of the smartphone. And you could add Amazon into the mix as an accelerant. The slow roll was catapulted forward at warp speed with the onset of Covid-19 early this year. It propelled both the demise of those retailers who were pivoting too slowly or not at all, and the success of those who were strategically shifting their business models to align with tech-armed next-gen consumers. The …