It’s not easy being number two. Ask Avis or Pepsi…or for that matter Gimbel’s. Second place been the retail cross that Lowe’s has had to bear for much of its existence. Lowe’s is a good retailer that is increasingly becoming a very good retailer, but it has the misfortune to have to compete against one of the best retailers in the country: Home Depot. No matter how much Lowe’s advances, it always seems like Depot remains just out of reach. Total Home That gap however could get much smaller as Lowe’s picks up the pace of its Total Home …
Operations
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 …
Off-Price is Dead-On When It Comes to Store Expansion
A funny thing happened on the way to Retailageddon: they forgot to tell some retailers. And while there’s no denying the past year has been especially harsh on much of the retailing industry when it comes to their physical store base, it has by no means been universal. In fact, certain sectors of the business are operating on the plus side of the ledger when it comes to opening physical stores. Opening Day Remarkably, so far this year the total number of store openings exceeds the number of store closings for the first time since…well, …
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Walmart’s $350 Billion Impossible Dream
Do the math: Walmart says that over the next decade it wants to move $350 billion of its merchandise buying activity to American-made products. Easier said than done. Much easier. Because as noble a pursuit as that is, when you actually break out the numbers the facts tell a somewhat different story. And even if it all added up, there is the bigger issue that restarting domestic manufacturing to create the supply to meet this demand is going to be incredibly difficult. Not only has the Made in America ship sailed -- literally in fact -- but …
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, …
What Home Buyers Want Now: 10 Post-Pandemic Priorities
The residential real estate market has been a bright spot during the pandemic-driven economic downturn that began early last year. There were initial fears that we might see a repeat of the real estate meltdown that started in 2008, when millions of homes entered foreclosure and homes lost an average of 30 percent of their market value. But so far, housing has performed better than expected. Boom Towns According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), in 88 percent of metro areas tracked, single-family, existing home prices rose by …
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Drugs, Wellbeing and Finance
Last month the broader retail world applauded two of the nation's largest drugstore chains when they moved women into senior management roles. The gender divide rooted in the tradition of the male pharmacist's early 20th century small-town location was finally overcome. Up to now, male leadership of beauty, OTC and first aid products was skewed and often curiously inept. The drugstore has made huge strides and taken major steps forward in the interest of female empowerment. One could argue that female management has more empathy and …
For Retailers, It’s Time to “Go Green” or Go Home
One storyline that was somewhat overlooked during the unfolding drama surrounding sleepy videogame retailer GameStop earlier this month – a David vs. Goliath story egged on by Elon Musk in which thousands of small retail day traders looked to deep-six hedge funds’ short bets on the stock – was where this so-called trend of ‘meme’ investing is likely to head next. In a recent research note, analysts at Bank of America said they are concerned that “ESG darlings” (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance funds) might be affected by “the …