jeff

More of the Same: Tilly’s April 29th Quarter

Tilly's

These quarterly reports from retailers are getting kind of repetitive.  It’s not just Tilly’s; they are all controlling inventory, slowing store openings (or closing stores), negotiating with landlords, trying to reduce operating expenses, doing omnichannel things and being generally grateful for anything that improves traffic and generates some incremental sales. Tilly’s conference call printed out […]

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What Keeps Jeff Bezos Up at Night- And Why What He’s Doing Should Keep You Up.

Industry Evolution, Retail

To my mind, Amazon’s biggest strategic advantage is that they started without brick and mortar retail.  The business was built for ecommerce and then, using the systems and data they’ve developed, they could look at brick and mortar making sure to have the right number of stores in the right places configured in the right

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Some Positive Trade Show News; Emerald Exhibitions to Acquire the SIA Show

Trade Shows

Finally, some positive movement in the trade show space.  I’ve hung back on writing about this for a few days but SIA President Nick Sargent sent out an email to all SIA members announcing and describing the deal, which is subject to approval by SIA’s premium members. The email from Nick was labeled “CONFIDENTIAL: DO NOT

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“Sacrifice a Little Growth…for Quality.” VF’s March 31st Quarter

VF Corp. (Vans, Reef, North Face)

Well, there you have it.  At some level, it is that simple.   But let me complete CFO Scott Roe’s comment in the conference call.  “…we are sharply focused on fundamentals and willing to sacrifice a little growth in the near term for quality. Our efforts are clearly paying off in the gross margin line. And

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Retail, Technology, Consolidation, and Unintended Consequences

Industry Evolution, Retail

This morning, the Seattle Times featured this article telling us that REI wage hikes for store employee announced last summer will be costing the company $24 to $25 million.  The company’s net income for its last complete year was $38.3 million. Meanwhile, my oldest son sent me this article from Investor’s Business Daily, telling us

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Zumiez’s New Concept Store

Zumiez

Zumiez has been telling us for some time now, correctly I think, that they are approaching the number of Zumiez stores the U.S. market can support.  They ended their January 31 year with 603 U.S. stores.  No doubt they will continue to selectively open (and close) stores and there is certainly no exact number of

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Emerald Exhibitions- Owner of Surf Expo, Outdoor Retailer, Interbike and Others- Going Public. Why?

Trade Shows

Last Week Emerald Exhibition (EE) filed the S-1 that includes the first draft of its prospectus to go public.  Because it’s the first draft a lot of information (like price per share and number to be sold) is missing.  Still, it’s worth a review.  We’ll summarize the company’s history and activities, look at the financial

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