A Disconnect with Americans’ Fascination with Wellbeing

By    |  

It isn’t only Belinda, the beleaguered spa manager in HBO’s smash summer hit The White Lotus, who’s finding it exceedingly challenging to cater to the whims of stressed-out guests right now. According to findings of the 2021 ISPA U.S. Spa Industry Study, a recent survey of more than 2000 American spa owners, the total number of U.S. employees fell by more than 20 percent last year. While it would be easy to attribute that fall-off to an overall decline in revenues and spa visits during Covid – each of those two vectors plummeted by a hefty …

A Disconnect with Americans’ Fascination with WellbeingRead More

Macy’s, Target Add Yet Another Chapter to the Ongoing Toy Story

By    |  

The toy market is once again – sorry, folks – in play. With recent moves by Target and Macy’s ahead of the critical fourth quarter surge in holiday-driven business, the toy and playthings category is shaping up to be as much in flux as it’s ever been in the past few years. Supply chain logjams, price increases and pandemic uncertainties only promise to exacerbate all of this. Toy Story: Last Chapter Of course, all of this comes in the context of the biggest development in toy retailing over the past 30 years: the demise of Toys’R’Us in 2018. …

Macy’s, Target Add Yet Another Chapter to the Ongoing Toy StoryRead More

Two Things Changing Retail Forever

By    |  

Triggered by Walmart’s recent announcement that they are launching a delivery service called Walmart GoLocal (that can be shared with any, and all other retailers, including competitors), I suddenly realized that we are witnessing a breakout moment that will forever change the face and defining characteristics of retail. And it’s not just Walmart’s delivery service, because there are several other previous models such as Target’s Shipt. My point regarding these two transformative drivers of change is that they were only visible as mere …

Two Things Changing Retail ForeverRead More

Profiles in Courage

By    |  

Is courage an outlier or core principle in your organization? We operate in today’s complex callout culture, both personally and professionally. It takes critical thinking to identify what is courageous versus what is opportunistic. Courage is not typically at the top of the list of leadership prerequisites. However, courage is key to everything: to challenge, share ideas, speak up, try new things, and receive feedback. Courage in Action Leaders are historically measured by their ability to deliver a bottom-line result to meet all …

Profiles in CourageRead More

A Retail Health Check

By    |  

"There are three kinds of lies," Mark Twain famously wrote over a century ago. "Lies, damned lies, and statistics." The conventional media reporting on the U.S. Census Bureau's monthly retail sales reports epitomizes how misused statistics can become no better than lies. The recently released July retail sales report is a prime example. Fake News After the report came out on August 16, media outlets ran with blaring headlines. To give just a few examples, CNBC talked about a "worse-than-expected" drop of 1.1 percent, while CNN called the …

A Retail Health CheckRead More

Retail Is the Metaphor for This Moment

By    |  

Recently was invited to cover a major retail industry event in São Paulo, Brazil entitled Expo Magalu – a one-day extravaganza that brought together, virtually and in-person, over 15,000 small and medium-sized independent retailers for a day of discussion about how to transform traditional brick-and-mortar businesses into omnichannel sellers with a significant ecommerce presence. The array of educational and networking sessions focused on next-generation logistics, payments, online store building, and a host of other related issues – even a …

Retail Is the Metaphor for This MomentRead More

Amazon’s Non-Department Store Launch

By    |  

Is this Amazon’s breakout retail moment?  After testing various retail formats, with some “keepers,” they plan to launch what “is akin” to department stores, according to a Wall Street Journal article. So, I have to ask, is this just another experiment? Or are they going all in, having learned enough about retailing from their test models to plow right into the sector that has been under siege for decades, steadily losing share of market to the luxury space, off-pricers, outlet stores, specialists, including fast fashion, and most recently to …

Amazon’s Non-Department Store LaunchRead More

America’s Great Service Crisis

By    |  

Even before the pandemic hit the U.S. market, customer service has been on a decline. Looking back over the past year and half, America's “Great Service Decline” has continued, accelerated by a number of disruptive post-Covid issues. Check out our podcast Platinum Service Turns to Tin with Robin Lewis for an interesting conversation! Pre-Covid Service Shifts Let’s take a look at a brief history of the service decline. Retailers and brands have been steadily reducing effective in-store employee training and some have turned to online …

America’s Great Service CrisisRead More

CONNECT WITH TRR