Management

“The success of our Power of Three formula in delivering on our 2023 growth strategy supports our goal to double (x2) the business over the next five years,” said CEO Calvin McDonald to analysts recently, referring to lululemon achieving its 2023 revenue projections in 2021 (two years ahead of schedule and a 40 percent increase over 2020). Accordingly, he’s projecting lululemon will double its 2021 results by 2026, (from $6.25 billion to $12.5). They anticipate total net revenues will increase 15 percent, at an annual compound growth rate by …

lululemon: Power of Three x2Read More

Let’s take a look at the situation Kohl’s is up against, and it isn’t pretty. Mr. Richard Baker I have already expressed my opinion of HBC’s intent to acquire Kohl’s, under the leadership of the now high-profile Richard Baker. My advice was that Kohl’s must do whatever they can to repel such a deal. Why? Because however many billions of dollars Baker has amassed during his career, they were not the result of his retail acumen. They were, and still are, the result of his brilliant ability to unlock the value of retail real estate under the …

Two Real Estate Moguls. Note to Kohl’s: Repel, Repel, RepelRead More

If recent retail history has taught us anything, it’s that one-size-fits-all solutions rarely work. We’ve seen far too many cases of companies copying ideas from other retailers...and falling flat on their faces. Mind you, that is not exactly what we’re seeing at Bed Bath & Beyond right now. The retailer remains financially stable, has a loyal customer base and is really only partway through a new strategy initiated by its CEO of two-and-a-half years, Mark Tritton. But Tritton, who spent four years at Target as chief merchant prior to …

Three Big Reasons Why What Worked at Target Isn’t Working at Bed Bath & BeyondRead More

We can excuse Howard Schultz if he’s feeling a little like Michael Corleone these days: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" The difference, other than the obvious, is that Schultz seems to be the one doing the pulling. This week he returned for his third term as CEO of Starbucks, the company he built from a handful of coffee shops to one of the largest, most iconic and downright ubiquitous hospitality chains in the world. More than 32,000 locations, compared to 24,000 KFCs and 18,000 Pizza Huts, though McDonalds beats them …

Howard’s End: Why is Schultz Back for a Triple Shot at Starbucks?Read More

Target’s yearly results are nothing short of amazing, hitting $106 billion in revenue as part of the pantheon of the largest retailers in the U.S. market (and the world) including Walmart, Amazon and Kroger. Comp sales were up 12.7 percent for the year with revenue growth of $27 billion since 2019. So, how did they get here? We all remember the best hires we’ve ever made in our careers. For Target it was undoubtedly its current CEO, Brian Cornell (my opinion of course, but the facts back me up). In 2014 when he was hired, Cornell made the …

How Target Hit $106 Billion in RevenueRead More

Who is the executive who fixed a retailer that just about everybody thought was unfixable? One who quotes both The Godfather and Camus with equal authority? Someone who was a most unlikely candidate for the job that has now come to define his career. And a person who sees the magic in both people and companies. To understand Hubert Joly, the former CEO of Best Buy and now a best-selling author and Harvard Business School professor, you need to understand all of the above dynamics -- but that only gets you started. French born and educated, …

Hubert Joly: The Unlikely RetailerRead More