Last Wednesday Shopko, a general merchandise retailer with 333 stores, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. On January 17th, SGB Media published an article on Shopko and the filing by Thomas J. Ryan with the title, “Shopko Becomes Latest Casualty Of Online Disruption.” I took umbrage at the suggestion that online disruption was the primary cause […]
What Caused Shopko to File for Bankruptcy? Two Parts to the Puzzle. Read More »
Technology that has value tends to get better and cheaper. I can’t think of a reason that won’t be true for the Zozosuit. “Japanese retailer Zozo, which operates Zozotown, the country’s largest online fashion marketplace, has developed a figure-hugging bodysuit featuring lots of uniquely patterned dots.” “As you turn slowly round, your smartphone takes photos,
What Happens When the Apparel You Buy Fits Perfectly Every Time? Read More »
Back in 2012 A&F had 946 U.S. stores. They ended the most recent quarter with 684 (plus 195 international stores). In the immortal words of Gary Schoenfeld in his first earnings conference call as CEO of Pac Sun however many years ago it was, “Nobody needs 900 Pac Sun stores.” Nobody needed 946 A&F stores
It Probably Wasn’t the Plan; Abercrombie & Fitch’s November 3rd Quarter. Read More »
Tilly’s sales for the quarter ended October 28th were down 3.9%, or $6 million, to $146.8 million from last year’s quarter. However, the decline was due to “…the calendar shift impact of the 53rd week in fiscal 2017’s retail calendar, which caused a portion of the high sales volume back-to-school season to shift into the
Popups, Extra Week, Higher Costs; Tilly’s Quarter Read More »
I’ve decided that my best recent article was “How Brick and Mortar Retail Has to Change,” written last June. I was surprised it got so little feedback. Probably because the list of what customers don’t need us to do anymore is a little intimidating, and we aren’t sure how to respond. Even if, like Zumiez,
Attacking the Retail Challenge: Zumiez’s Quarterly Results Read More »
We spend an awful lot of time trying to figure out how to sell our customers more stuff. It’s been tougher lately and shows no signs of getting easier. It’s the internet. Or over supply and too much retail. The customer wants experiences. Poor distribution. No product differentiation. Too many brands. A smarter and more
What if Our Customers Just Don’t Have as Much Money to Spend? Read More »
Over years, I’ve written various articles about the evolution of our market and how we need to change to address it. I’d decided it was time to pull all those ideas together in one, hopefully, thought provoking, insightful, action motivating piece. Then a friend sent me Robin Lewis’s outstanding article on just this issue and
Back in October, there was some speculation that somebody wanted to buy Amer Sports and Amer said, “Yup, it’s true. We’re talking.” I wrote a short article about it at the time. On December 7th, they confirmed that there is, in fact, a cooperative tender offer coming beginning around December 20th. Here’s the link to
Looks Like Amer Sports is Going Private Read More »
Emerald issued a press release today announcing that the Interbike show scheduled for September 2019 was a no go. Here’s the press release. I excluded the part at the end describing who Interbike and Emerald Expositions are.
Emerald Expositions Cancels Interbike for 2019 Read More »
Back in July, I read an article called, “High-skilled white-collar work? Machines can do that, too.” It talked about companies (Stitch Fix among them) using algorithms to design product and decide what and how much to buy when. Here’s the link. Two days ago my research department (whom I always hear from if I don’t
What’s Jeff Reading? Buying by Algorithm and Spoofing the Customer as a Marketing Tool Read More »