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Overview

The gold standard in retail strategy and consulting

Practical, powerful solutions start with collaboration

There are only winners and losers in retail. Armed with decades of experience, an unparalleled commitment to your team, and play-making insights, McMillanDoolittle helps you win.

Our roster of industry-leading experts knows the retail game inside and out. We’ve been in your position. We understand your challenges, and we speak your language. We provide an outside perspective with insider experience, collaborating with your team to craft strategic, custom solutions that are scalable and sustainable. We’re true experts and partners, fully committed to your success.

We’re already experts in retail, but to support you, we become experts on your company.

We aren’t selling pre-packaged solutions and we don’t design unsustainable solutions. We tailor our strategies to your business and then go the extra mile to help implement them, ensuring they are practical, effective and repeatable. We think of ourselves as an extension of your team, and we’re invested in your success.

What Makes Us Different
close-up of old cash register

Building on a foundation of strategy and success

Our History

Today, McMillanDoolittle is proud to be one of the world’s leading retail consulting firms, with a broad range of capabilities and expertise and a legacy of success with top brands nationally and abroad. We are a woman-owned business committed to equal opportunities for all. Our team is devoted to the principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and to living up to these in all we do.

Since 1986, our team of experienced partners has helped retailers and suppliers worldwide to successfully navigate and conquer the changing retail marketplace.

  • 1986
  • 1992
  • 1995
  • 2004
  • 2009
  • 2017
  • Company Founded

    McMillanDoolittle logo 1986


    1986Founders Norman H. McMillan and Sidney N. DoolittleRecognized retail leaders Norman H. McMillan and Sidney N. Doolittle founded McMillanDoolittle. They pioneered a process of working collaboratively with clients to create dynamic, customer-driven retail strategies.

  • Ebeltoft Group

    Ebeltoft Group logo


    1992McMillanDoolittle helps form EBELTOFT Group, an international network of retail consultants. These consultants provide access to retail contacts, market intelligence and clients all over the world, keeping the channel of communication, insight-sharing, and opportunity open.

  • Develops Proprietary Model

    McMillanDoolittle logo 1986


    1995McMillanDoolittle develops the proprietary Estâ„¢ model of retail strategy through a systematic study of winning and losing retailers across all segments. The model became the enduring standard for defining retail success.

  • Winning at Retail

    McMillanDoolittle logo 2004


    2004Winning at Retail is published by Senior Partners Neil Stern and Will Ander. The book codified the McMillanDoolittle process of helping clients create winning strategies.

  • Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail

    McMillanDoolittle logo 2009


    2009Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail is published, looking at how retailers will differentiate in the future.

  • McMillanDoolittle merges with Okamura Consulting

    McMillanDoolittle logo 2017


    2017As the retail industry continues to undergo seismic shifts from digital disruption, McMillanDoolittle strategically merges with long-time partners and specialists in digital retail transformation, Okamura Consulting.