Why ‘Made in USA’ Could Really Become More of a Reality

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When COVID-19 ground everyday life to a halt, the impact on the retail industry was immediate and severe. The fashion industry, which offers anywhere from twelve to many dozens of deliveries per year, was left staggering as the pandemic forced far-flung overseas factories to shut down. Orders were cancelled, or retailers and brands refused to pay for completed goods because sales nosedived as stores were ordered to close. During the ensuing months, the havoc wrought by the coronavirus generated discussions about the practicality of near-shoring …

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J.C. Penney May Survive Covid-19 (For the Wrong Reasons)

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The moment of truth is nearing for J.C. Penney. The struggling department store chain faces a July 15 deadline to gain lenders' approval for its bankruptcy reorganization plan and thereby unlock additional bankruptcy funding. Unless two-thirds of its bankruptcy lenders consent to its restructuring plan by then, J.C. Penney will be required to pursue an immediate sale of its assets. That could lead to a liquidation and the effective disappearance of this iconic brand. J.C. Penney's rapid fall from relevance over the past decade, plunging mall …

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“Wanna Chat…With A Brand?

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Let’s shift our gaze from the current moment where an undercurrent of uncertainty colors everything. It is easy to feel like we are treading water both professionally and personally, but if we look outward, things are changing at a rapid pace. As I have heard repeatedly in recent weeks, this pandemic has accelerated shifts that were already underway and/or, a decade’s worth of change has rained down on our society in fewer than six months. One area where this is especially true is the integration of voice-activated smart speakers into our …

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Crate & Barrel Has a New CEO

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Here's a fascinating development in retailing: Replace a good merchant with another good merchant. What a concept. Crate & Barrel, the iconic lifestyle home furnishings retail chain announced over the past few days the departure of current CEO Needa Montgomery and her successor Janet Hayes, a former Williams Sonoma veteran with a good pedigree. As so many big retailing companies bring in operations and financial types to run their businesses, what's happening at Crate is a refreshing reminder that if the store isn't merchandised right, …

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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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Is Kanye’s New Gap Collaboration Dead on Arrival?

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It’s supposed to be the collaboration of the decade. Right when Kanye West’s Yeezy brand launched its interactive 3D website, Mr. West announced a new ongoing collaboration with Gap. Kanye will remodel a Gap outlet downtown Chicago as part of the deal. It seems like a good idea, right? The Yeezy/Adidas sneaker collab was hugely successful and Yeezy brought in $1.3 billion last year alone. But this doesn’t mean that Yeezy would also bring new life to the ailing mall-based retailer. There are five reasons why the Gap collaboration won’t match …

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Six Unexpected Takeaways from Covid-19

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Covid-19 has now been around long enough for us to start drawing some conclusions from our shared experiences. The Pandemic is far from over and has prompted almost everyone to think deeply about their lives, relationships, values and attitudes. Part of this re-evaluation has been caused by so much extra time in shelter, watching a medical, economic and social justice drama unfold on our screens of choice. For essential workers, it has been a 24/7 call to action; for nonessential workers it has been an opportunity to reflect and reset. For …

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Measuring the New Normal: Retail’s KPI Challenge

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The media has been busy proclaiming the coming death of both the store and experiential retailing in a voice that has grown progressively louder over the course of the last decade. The scourge of Covid-19 is now being touted as the cataclysmic event that will signal the coming of a dramatic shift in the channel mix of retail. Some even have predicted that the penetration of digital sales could reach 40-50 percent of total sales by 2021. But what if the metrics the industry typically uses to measure channel performance are wrong? This 50 …

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