Gap. Inc will shortly split in two and the cash cow that is Old Navy will leave 50% of the company to fend for itself, including the original namesake Gap brand. Gap’s trajectory for the last fifteen years has been difficult to watch (and to…
Disruption is here and taking over the retail industry. Retailers who are winning deliver on one of three extremes: extreme value, extreme convenience or extreme experience. Value-driven retailers are taking ‘cheapest’ to the next level. Convenience focused retailers are removing friction from the buying process….
Amazon Go is now up to six stores in three cities: their home market in Seattle, two in Chicago and the latest to open in downtown San Francisco. Two more are planned for Chicago, as well as another in San Francisco. As a nomadic business…
As Chicago residents, we’ve been excited to see two Amazon Go locations open in the Loop. Now we’re waiting for the next Chicago Go to open – but this one has a slight twist. Rather than another street-level store in a bustling office district, Amazon…
It’s difficult for me to write about the demise of Sears in the abstract, as a dispassionate objective observer. My family (literally, my entire immediate family) worked for Sears and Sears was responsible for putting a roof over our heads and for many of the…
Grassroots Cannabis. Green Growth Brands. Green Thumb Industries. Canopy. Cresco Labs. MedMen. There are more than a few cannabis-focused companies/retailers making headlines this year. Despite the federal government’s “yellow-light”, thirty states have given medicinal cannabis the green one. Last week, three leading companies in the…
A new standard for customer service has arrived in Chicago. Amazon opened their fourth Amazon Go store in the Chicago Loop business district, exporting the “Just walk out” model beyond Seattle for the first time. Like the other Amazon Go stores, the layout is compact…
When Nike’s marketing team is humming, the brand gets noticed. Yesterday’s “Just Do It” campaign evolved beyond the world of athletics. By highlighting Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem, Nike purposefully ran into a contentious social and political issue. Images of Nike…
Google retail isn’t just mini-putt courses and doughnut shops anymore. In case you missed it, fun pop-up concepts defined Google’s entry into physical retail. But now, Google is getting serious and announced today that it will open its first permanent flagship store in Chicago’s trendy…
It’s been a busy week for Starbucks. After acquiring Milan-based Princi last year, Starbucks finally opened the first of what is planned to be a 1,000 store standalone bakery concept in their hometown of Seattle. Customers have been able to sample Princi goods inside their…
