Afleveringen
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Guests:
Michelle Bellanca, CEO and co-founder of Claros Technologies
Arick Wierson, Emmy Award-winning producer and TRR contributor
The retail industry faces a transformative reckoning beyond tariffs and supply chain disruptions: PFAS chemicals. These "forever chemicals" are ubiquitous in everything from textiles and cosmetics to food packaging and electronics. What’s more, PFAS compounds have infiltrated 99 percent of all humans’ bloodstreams. Regulatory frameworks are tightening worldwide, with Europe leading aggressive restrictions while the U.S. market remains primarily litigation driven. Guests Michelle Bellanca, CEO and co-founder of Claros Technologies and Arick Wierson, Emmy Award winning producer and TRR contributor join Shelley with a call to action about this $13 trillion threat to the retail industry. The technology exists to detect and destroy these compounds, and innovative companies can lead rather than react to eradicate PFAS. Consumers will also put pressure on manufacturers to provide PFAS-free products. We are at a critical juncture to reverse the PFAS tide. Listen and learn!
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Guests:
Ann Cantrell, small business owner and FIT associate professor
Liz Alessi, retail supply chain expert
We’re celebrating Earth Day Week early! The fashion industry has an environmental crisis on its hands. It uses an astronomical number of resources (a single T-shirt requires 700 gallons of water to manufacture) contributing 10 percent of global carbon emissions. Fast fashion brands are accelerating production cycles while regulatory rollbacks are threatening progress: understanding sustainable alternatives has never been more urgent for both consumers and brands. In this episode of Retail Unwrapped, Shelley and sustainability experts Ann Cantrell and Liz Alessi discuss innovative solutions in the face of global supply chain challenges and economic headwinds ensuring both economic and environmental sustainability. Consumers hold significant power through their purchasing decisions while brands can drive change through innovative approaches like "flow fashion,” which is combining the best business practices of fast fashion with the core values of slow fashion, maintaining sustainability principles.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Special Guest: Dominick Miserandino, CEO of Retail Tech Media Nexus
Consumer attention is the ultimate currency in today’s disruptive marketplace. Retailers are becoming publishers as a strategy to forge deeper connections with customers through authentic storytelling. Savvy retailers are leveraging first-party data with insights to create experiences that resonate on a personal level, upending the traditional advertising model. Join Shelley and Dominick Miserandino, a retail media mastermind to learn how the retail media network revolution isn't merely about selling ad space; it's about understanding customer journeys and facilitating meaningful interactions that transform browsing into belonging. As press releases and traditional marketing become less relevant, personalized narratives are emerging as the connective tissue between brands and consumers in an increasingly fragmented marketplace.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Guest: Stephanie Cegielski, VP of Research at ICSC
The retail marketplace is in the throes of transformation. Despite the popular narrative of a retail apocalypse, commercial spaces are undergoing a renaissance. If developers and retailers are inventive and bold, store closures offer an opportunity for innovative reinvention. Today, vacancy rates hovering around just 4 percent; there's intense competition for those empty spaces. Scarcity, coupled with high construction costs, has created a competitive marketplace where the retailers that are reimagining traditional can thrive. Join Shelley and Stephanie Cegielski, VP of Research at ICSC as they discuss how successful malls have become vibrant ecosystems as technology hubs, dining spots, entertainment venues, and educational facilities. Listen and learn how retailers can successfully transform by taking advantage of new lease structures that have evolved dramatically, with flexible terms replacing rigid, decade-long commitments.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Guest: Sandy Stein, founder of Retail Speak, and TRR contributor
What makes a retail brand resilient? It starts with visionary leadership that sees the business holistically balancing merchandising expertise and creativity with financial discipline. Urban Outfitter CEO and founder Richard Hayne has a merchant-first mentality and leads the organization with strategic pivots to align with changing consumer preferences while maintaining brand integrity.
Join Shelley and strategic visionary Sandy Stein as they discuss how Urban Outfitters has maintained a customer-centric culture, showing patience in stark contrast to aggressive scaling models that have led many other retailers to overexpansion and subsequent painful contraction. Surviving a series of market disruptions, like Amazon's and Walmart’s fashion plays into the contemporary market, Urban Outfitters has remarkable agility in navigating both headwinds and tailwinds. It stands as a compelling case study in adaptive strategy and vertical integration.
Listen and learn how Hayne’s holistic approach to brand management, built on merchandising expertise rather than pure financial orientation, delivers a sustainable future for Urban Outfitters.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Guest:
Mark A. Cohen Former Director of Retail Studies at the Columbia Business School, and Former CEO Sears Canada.
Hudson’s Bay, once Canada's proud retail institution, has descended into Chapter 11 restructuring. And the blunt truth is it’s not because of recent trade tensions as the company proclaimed, but rather from years of financial neglect, unpredictable customer experiences, and questionable strategic moves. The department store's inconsistent merchandise assortments across different locations undermined The Bay’s identity, leaving customers confused about what the retailer actually stood for. Join Shelley and retail veteran Mark Cohen as they discuss how CEO Richard Baker's real estate-focused leadership and lack of retail expertise have led to catastrophic outcomes, reflecting the danger of prioritizing deal-making over operational excellence. His ineptitude doesn’t stop at Hudson’s Bay. Saks Global is at risk of long-term survival. It’s the perfect storm for Saks: The large luxe brands are not going to be bullied by Saks 90-day payment terms and Baker's financial engineering will give market share to Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Guest: Lindsey Scheftic, CMO, Owner and Founder, The CMO Sidekick
Fractional CMOs with blue-chip experience are sources of enterprise-level talent accessible even to mid-market companies. Couple that resource with AI tools that are moving at the speed of light, these strategic co-pilots are separating marketing winners from losers. With the explosion of video channel fragmentation creating a measurement nightmare and threatening attribution accuracy, and retail media networks evolving from a "necessary evil" into precision targeting powerhouses – both demand a new level of marketing expertise. Join Shelley and Lindsey Scheftic, CMO, owner and founder of The CMO Sidekick as they explore how marketing expertise is being fundamentally redefined. The traditional career path is dead, yesterday's marketing education is obsolete, and 65 percent of future marketing roles don't even exist today. Listen in to this provocative conversation to get up to speed on the future of marketing.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Special Guest: Warren Shoulberg, Retail Journalist and TRR Writer
Consumer spending is increasingly reflecting personal values. In a disruptive, unpredictable marketplace, the rise of grassroots activism presents unprecedented strategic challenges for retail executives. These orchestrated economic blackouts can transform individual purchasing decisions into collective action, triggering a compromised retail brand reputation with financial implications. While any immediate sales impact is difficult to quantify, brands are still vulnerable. Join Shelley and Warren Shoulberg, retail expert and TRR contributor, as they discuss whether these movements are successful and how the true power of these boycotts may lie in the symbolic expression of shifting the public discourse, particularly fueled by social media. The growing tension between consumer activists and retail brands sits at the heart of the strategic calculus of how the C-suite serves its customers and makes decisions. Now more than ever, retailers need to work harder to earn customer loyalty.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Special Guest: Phil Lempert, consumer behavior analyst
The bird flu outbreak has transcended egg producers in the farming industry to become a critical economic disruptor and potential public health threat. With consumers spending 53 percent more on eggs in January 2025 compared to the previous year, this potential pandemic illustrates the fragility of our food systems despite technological advances. Join Shelley and Phil Lempert, expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends and the changing retail landscape, as they discuss how the bird flu crisis is creating complex challenges for retailers, restaurateurs, supply chain executives, and public health officials alike.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Special Guest: Jonathan Gold, Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy, National Retail Federation
In a year of unprecedented economic uncertainty, the possible implementation of widespread tariffs has far-reaching implications for retail markets and consumer behavior. Beyond the immediate impact on pricing, these trade policies could fundamentally alter supply chain strategies, product availability, and market competition. Join Shelley and Jonathan Gold from NRF as they discuss all-things tariffs and how challenging it is for retailers to plan for sudden, unexpected policy changes. While some retailers advocate bringing manufacturing back to the U.S, the infrastructure, skilled labor, and economic conditions required for domestic production cannot be established quickly enough to counteract imminent, imposed tariffs. From a macro perspective, the current trade environment demands a strategic reassessment of supply chain diversity and risk management to thrive in an increasingly volatile global market.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Special Guests:
Mickey Alam Khan, CEO of Luxury Roundtable
Pam Danziger, TRR contributor and founder Unity Marketing
The shift in luxury retail's competitive landscape through the Saks-Neiman Marcus merger could have a domino effect on the operational synergies of both companies, unlocking fundamental questions about the sustainability of the luxury department store model. At stake is the state of personalized luxury retail when longstanding customer relationships and local market expertise are at odds with the impersonal efficiencies of large-scale consolidated operations. As the evolving dynamics of signature, singular brand stores and large multi-brand retailers unfold, it is evident that luxury brand houses are increasingly gaining control their own destiny through direct-to-consumer channels. Join Shelley, Mickey Alam Khan, CEO of Luxury Roundtable, and Pam Danziger, TRR contributor and founder Unity Marketing, as they dive into Richard Baker's acquisition track record and question whether Saks Global can gain strides against global luxury brands which have become its largest competitors. Or is the Saks model the demise of luxury department store retail?
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Special Guests:
Evan Gold, EVP of Global Partnerships & Alliances at Planalytics
Matt Flentge, Director of Category Marketing at Ace Hardware Inc.
Let’s move beyond Punxsutawney Phil's shadow and his Spring 2025 prediction into the sophisticated world of weather-driven retail strategy. The ritual is a convergence of folklore and cutting-edge analytics that has implications for the $7 trillion U.S. retail market. Join Shelley, Evan Gold, EVP of Global Partnerships & Alliances at Planalytics and Matt Flentge, Director of Category Marketing at Ace Hardware as they discuss the weather; last year marked the fifth warmest spring in 130 years, setting a challenging benchmark for 2025 performance comparisons. While Phil's prediction of a late spring captured the headlines, the real story lies in how modern retailers are transforming weather forecasting into actionable business intelligence. Weather influences over $1 trillion in annual retail sales, with spring weather sensitivity affecting retail traffic by up to 5 percent annually. Learn how retailers like Ace Hardware are leveraging hyperlocal weather data to optimize everything from inventory management to digital transformation. Successful retailers are using advanced analytics to transform climate challenges into strategic advantages that optimize forecast accuracy, drive top-line sales, and enhance service levels for physical and digital retail.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
The Robin Report Experts
· Mark A. Cohen, Former Director of Retail Studies at Columbia Business School and Former CEO Sears Canada.
· Phil Lempert, SupermarketGuru® expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail landscape.
· Jasmine Glasheen, a go-to retail and SaaS content strategist, also well-known for insights on generational purchasing behavior
The convergence of geopolitical tensions, technological revolution, and changing consumer behaviors are creating strategic challenges and reshaping retail, all which demand immediate C-suite attention. Join Shelley and her roundtable of TRR contributors (Jasmine Glasheen, Mark A. Cohen, and Phil Lempert) as they discuss how to navigate unprecedented disruption and anticipate the short-term future. Listen in to learn how emerging trends suggest a fundamental restructuring of retail economics that will require agile leadership and innovative approaches to maintain competitive advantage.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Guests:
Dominick Miserandino, CEO Retailwire
Beverley Kobe, Chief Executive Officer at Goodwill Industries Ontario Great Lakes
Sulabh Jain, Chief Analytics Officer Impact Analytics
The future of retail is undergoing a transformation and artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful partner for humans in the process. Join Shelley with three industry leaders: Dominick Miserandino, CEO of Retailwire; Sulabh Jain Chief Analytics Officer of Impact Analytics; and Beverley Kobe Chief Executive Officer at Goodwill Industries Ontario Great Lakes, as they tackle some of the most complex aspects of the AI evolution that are reshaping traditional retail value propositions. Dominick explores the mindset around how AI is leveraging retail-tech not as a job eliminator, but as an extension of human capabilities -- AI with a humanistic approach. He also discusses the dramatic shifts in consumer behavior defined by immediate gratification and convenience. Bev shares how sustainability initiatives are empowered by insightful analytics that optimize processing 6 billion pounds of goods flowing through innovative reuse and recycling channels annually. Sulabh reveals how forward-thinking retailers are leveraging AI-powered decision systems to remodel traditional pricing and inventory strategies into sophisticated, data-driven operations. And the experts weigh in on the impact of potential global trade policies and tariffs in 2025. The convergence of AI, sustainability, and adaptive pricing strategies represent a fundamental shift in retail operations, amplifying the power of resilience in an increasingly interconnected marketplace. Listen and learn from our experienced experts.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Guests:
Suni Shamapande, PwC's Consumer Markets Lead
Kimberly Lee Minor, CEO, WOC Retail Alliance
Liza Amlani, Founder and Principal of Retail Strategy Group
Nikki Baird, VP of Aptos Strategy and ProductsNRF’s 2025 show was a panoramic view of the retail industry and a preview of its near-term future. Retail Unwrapped took the podcast on the road to gain insights from forward thinking experts about key industry takeaways from the NRF 2025. They weighed in on how the convergence of artificial intelligence, human talent and market insight is fundamentally reshaping the retail landscape. Effective AI implementation is focused on processes to augment systems and human decision-making in all retail operations. Join Shelley for a cross-disciplinary perspective on retail from AI operational integration and implementation (Suni), the need for diversity in retail leadership (Kimberly), merchandising strategy (Liza) and retail tech and the in-store experience (Nikki). These experts reveal how successful retailers are embracing a future where technology enhances human connection, market insight challenges conventional wisdom, and enlightened leadership drives innovation supported by diverse perspectives.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!
Guest: Bayard Winthrop, CEO and founder of American Giant
Bayard Winthrop, CEO of American Giant, is dedicated to American made and has a transformative partnership with Walmart that could redefine the power of American manufacturing. Winthrop launched his collaboration with Walmart with a $12.98 American-made T-shirt in 2023, expanding to sweatshirts in 2025. The partnership is a compelling story about how premium brands can maintain integrity through mass-market collaboration. Walmart's unprecedented $350 billion, 10-year commitment to American-made products scales up onshoring, supports American jobs, meets customers’ expectations and lowers costs. Join Shelley and Bayard as they discuss global trade tensions, looming tariffs, and provide insights into the broader implications of reshoring for national security, community vitality, and workforce development. He challenges prevailing assumptions about manufacturing costs, believing strategic retail partnerships can democratize access to American-made quality without compromising standards.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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As we enter 2025, what’s the imperative for retail going forward? We’ve identified three key shifts that are shaping the future of retail. Join Shelley in a review of Retail Unwrapped podcast highlights that preview retail things to come.
In hot topics of the moment, tariffs are top of mind for CEOs and CFOs and retail leadership is anticipating uncertain changes with the new administration. The industry faces a pivotal moment as tariff policies create a complex economic balancing act between manufacturing costs at home and consumer price surging for global sourcing. Discover more with Bayard Winthrop, Founder and CEO American Giant and Arick Wierson, award-winning journalist and TRR contributor in a Post-Election Recap for Retail.
AI is raising its head, a sleeping giant with integration emerging as the defining factor separating market leaders from laggards. Its impact on the retail industry will be broad and deep and brands that stay ahead of the technology and implement AI strategies that resonate with their target markets are better positioned to win. Learn more with The Next Frontier: Agentic AI Smart Shopping; The AI-Powered Merchant: Creativity Meets Retail Technology; and the Future of Retail Returns: Automation Meets Human Intelligence.
Effective retail leadership will shift as it adopts modern skillsets and strategies to manage a disruptive marketplace. Find out what right stuff is required to win with customers and an evolving workforce: Behind the CEO Curtain: What Modern Leadership Really Looks Like; Succession Planning in Retail…Pepsi Has It Right Four Female CEOs with Unique Retail Strategies; and John Venhuizen, President and CEO of Ace Hardware: A 2024 Crave Retail Radical.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Guest: Sharon Price John, CEO Build-A-Bear Workshop
Build-A-Bear Workshop is the evolution of a metamorphosis of a beloved brand. What began as a mall-centric experiential retailer transformed into a global powerhouse by understanding the shifting dynamics of consumer behavior, digital commerce, and destination retail. Join Shelley and Sharon as they reveal how questioning traditional retail assumptions led to breakthrough insights about tourist locations, hospitality partnerships, and multi-generational appeal. This strategic pivot wasn't about changing direction but rather reinterpreting the mission of founder Maxine Clark who created memorable family experiences. Listen in to learn how experiential excellence has made Build-a-Bear a retail renaissance.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Guests: Bridget Johns, co-founder and CEO at To&From, John Andrews co-founder and CEO of Cimulate.
The future of retail is being fundamentally transformed by artificial intelligence, moving far beyond basic search functionality to create intuitive, personalized shopping experiences. Learn how AI is evolving from simple keyword matching to sophisticated understanding of consumer context and intent. The key to success lies in striking the perfect balance between AI automation and human expertise. Join Shelley, Bridget and John as they discuss how the emergence of Agentic AI -- autonomous shopping assistants that can understand complex requirements and preferences -- represents the next frontier in retail technology. The human element will remain crucial, particularly when deep product knowledge and curation are required. The most successful implementations will combine AI's processing power with retail domain expertise to enhance rather than replace the human touch in shopping experiences.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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In a bold reimagining of mass-market fashion, Walmart is spearheading a transformation that challenges traditional retail paradigms. A 2024 Crave Retail Radical, Denise Incandela, EVP of Walmart Fashion U.S. declares, "Disruption enables breakthrough ideas and redefines standards." This strategic evolution isn't about changing perception – it's revolutionizing how America can access and experience fashion. Join Shelley and Denise in our Retail Radical podcast as they explore how Walmart has transformed its role as a fashion destination. Denise underscores Walmart’s commitment to democratizing fashion without compromising style. The transformation extends beyond product to encompass a reimagined store experience, with over 600 modernized locations featuring branded shops and discovery zones that position fashion as a halo for the brand.
For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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