Recent news headline: Retail CEO announces that luxe retail is the new normal. Another recent news headline: Real estate empresario comments on how overbuilt and expensive New York City has become. We were, of course, shocked to learn that real estate was expensive here. Any fair-minded observer can be forgiven a moment of disgust as these particular twin revisionist rationales work to fling more pixie dust on the legitimate question we face, Whither retail reality? Ghost Town It's not all Covid all the time. Think of the forced march to …
Opinion
Brand Betrayal
The pandemic, in combination with the demand for racial justice, has brought out the best and the worst of the retail and fashion industries, forcing us to examine more closely the brands we give our money to. Free Pass Most of the fashion industry has, for too long, been unable to uproot itself from its deeply embedded history of racial and class biases. Suddenly, though, voices demanding change have grown louder and the industry’s day of reckoning is finally upon us. Over the past few months, as the Black Lives Matter movement swept (and …
Macy’s and Unsubscribed…Who?
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 …
Shopify Who? Ask Walmart
Walmart recently sent a shot across Amazon's bow by partnering with Shopify Inc., the currently valued $88 billion, Canadian-based all-in-one e-commerce solution/tool. Shopify allows one to build a functional e-commerce store from scratch, without a designer's or developer's help. Shopify offers more than 75 million-plus products from more than a million merchants across 175 countries. So what? Amazon's 2019 marketplace sales of about $230 billion, dwarfs the estimated $61 billion revenues across all of Shopify-powered sites. And since …
Will Retail Become Like the Airline Industry?
A few weeks ago, Walmart debuted its new Express delivery program, whereby Walmart customers can pay an extra $10 fee to have their purchases delivered right to their doors in two hours or less. While questionable on many levels, the move, putting all objections aside, signifies something profound -- namely, that the “experience” of retail is becoming less and less important with each passing Covid day. Similar to the airline industry, attitudes are shifting. What matters now is not experience but getting people what they need in the cheapest …
Is Amazon Embarking on Another Huge Mistake?
If even a slightly credible rumor is true, that Amazon is eyeing an acquisition of JC Penney, Jeff Bezos would be making another huge strategic mistake. As I pointed out last March, the fact that Amazon chose to acquire Whole Foods (grocery being one of Bezos' early declarations that Amazon needed to get grocery and apparel "right") was the first, huge strategic mistake. Not only is Whole Foods an upscale grocer, not quite compatible with Amazon's more mainstream brand, the business was not in good shape when they acquired it, and they're still …
PostPan Generational Reflections
At 10:00 in the evening as I sit in my West Village garden, the city is remarkably quiet. There is a dusting of white pear tree blossom petals everywhere. No jets passing over, the sirens are a distant wail in my deserted neighborhood. It is as if 150 years has disappeared. It hasn't. Next Gen Angst For my GenZ 19-year-old this is a cataclysmic time. It is the first time in her adult memory the broader world has intruded on her life, uninvited. Her college sent her home. Her physical isolation is profound. And while Zoom gatherings are a …
A Fake Sport Defines Our Fake President
Dear Readers: Upon reflection of our nation’s 240th birthday, I feel compelled, as a member of the media, to bring you this editorial wake-up call. “America Gets What America Is” was the last sentence in a prescient article I posted on The Robin Report, September 15, 2015, Trump Will Win the Nomination. The blog predicted, early on, that Donald Trump would win the Republican nomination. One of the major reasons I cited was that he was the image and likeness of the famed WWE (remember folks, that’s World Wrestling Entertainment) hero, Hulk …