Less than three years ago, I was part of a consulting team that participated in a strategic planning retreat for Art Van Furniture’s senior management. At the time (mid 2017), the company was riding high: it was immensely profitable, growing fast, entering new markets and…
News reports today indicate that Brandless, the SoftBank Vision Fund backed start-up, will shut down permanently. This news follows a tumultuous few years for the once promising start-up that offered high quality, “brandless” goods for a single fixed price point of $3. Brandless was an…
Greg Foran, the former CEO of Walmart U.S. said that “Retail Will Change More in the Next Five Years Than It Has in the Past 50 Years”. If he is even remotely correct, expect to see a rapidly shifting retail landscape as we enter a…
As the Holiday season of 2019 winds to an end, I am going to use this time to look back and to look ahead. The 2010’s were a transformative decade for retail. While Retailmageddon didn’t exactly come to pass, we saw a significant slowdown in…
A long wait is not the typical experience at Starbucks. But waiting is part of the journey at Starbucks’ newest Roastery on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. On a recent Friday – nearly three weeks after the Roastery opened – lattes were delivered six minutes after they…
“Change (in China) is so dynamic” Walmart’s SVP of Cross Border Trade, Ben Hassing set the tone for the sixth annual Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum (GELF) NYC program. Hassing’s keynote presentation, “The Local of Global Ecommerce” shared his experience as the head of Ecommerce and…
The sixth annual GELF NYC conference is being held on Thursday, September 19th. The New York conference brings together a community of digital and international executives from global brands and retailers across the U.S. This follows GELF conferences in Los Angeles and Miami (GELF LATAM)…
On Tuesday, Kohl’s announced a partnership with Facebook to use the social media giant’s consumer information to select a merchandising assortment. The assortment – featuring new or unknown brands – is entitled “Curated by Kohl’s,” and is part of CEO Michelle Gass’s efforts to enhance…
CHICAGO, IL- Aug. 5th, 2019 In this report McMillanDoolittle details shifting consumer expectations across all retail categories – and the blind spots the leaders of both legacy retailers and digital natives must overcome as they adapt to an integrated retail landscape. In Different Leaders /…
Adding foodservice to a retail environment is hardly new. Department stores have married retail and restaurants for well over a century and drugstores routinely had soda fountains. Brands like Ikea have become almost as well known for their meatballs as their dressers and have contemplated having…
