We all remember the 2000 hit movie “The Perfect Storm” starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane about the ill-fated Andrea Gail fishing boat battling the confluence of three massive storms in the Atlantic Ocean. I can think of no better analogy to what the retail industry is facing now that QVC is merging […]
Archive | July, 2017
Make Independent Retailer Month Last All Year Long
It’s official: July is National Independent Retailer Month. But I say make it run all year, not just in July! Independent Retailer Month started back in 2003, then was adopted in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Jersey in 2009 to advance the business for independent retailers. And in 2011 it went international and expanded to […]
How Wall Street Journal Got The Troubles At Tiffany Wrong
Earlier this month Wall Street Journal published a front-page story on Tiffany, entitled “Tiffany Hunts For A Way Back to ‘Cool’” which largely attributed its current crisis to one of leadership. Much of the blame was laid at the feet of past-CEO Frederic Cumenal, who joined the company in 2011 from LVMH Moët Hennessey where he ran […]
What The Latest Retail Sales Trends Reveal About American Shoppers
The latest Census Department release on retail sales for June 2017 gave a sobering look at the current state of American retail. While total sales year-over-year were up 3.9% for the first six months, a rundown comparing May to June 2017 estimates (unadjusted) were not so kind. Every major reporting category except electronics and appliance stores and […]
Secret Of Retail Success? Give Shoppers More Things To Do, Not More Stuff To Buy
Recently I took my 4 ½ year-old twin grandsons to Dutch Wonderland, an amusement park tailored to the pre-teen crowd. We rode all the age-appropriate rides, strapped into our seats and let the effects of centrifugal force and mild balance disorientation do the rest. But by far their favorite experience was a miniature train where […]