Like so much in retailing, the Christmas selling season is a uniquely American creation. That’s the good news — and the bad. We probably didn’t invent Kris Kringle, but we Americans certainly popularized him, making him the centerpiece of the holiday selling season. Whatever the original definition and intent of Black Friday, we Americans transformed
If you’re a music buff (or just of a certain age), you likely remember “Video Killed the Radio Star.” The first music video, it transformed the industry, replacing radio as the best way to spike record sales. A cautionary tale and lament for radio’s golden age, it spoke to the changes brought by technology and
Unlikely as it sounds, New York City is quickly emerging as a retail Mecca, the scene of much that is new and exciting and innovative in the retail marketplace. That’s right. New York — scene of hourly subway snafus, constant traffic snarls, mind-numbing construction on every street, and all manner of inconveniences and holdups —
The retail industry is in the midst of a golden age of experimentation and innovation. Triggered by intensified competition, changing consumer dynamics, and the revolutionary impact of digital technology and e-commerce, merchants have had no choice but to rethink the way they do business or risk obsolescence, a process that took Sears Holdings down a
The reshuffling of the retail landscape is proceeding, indeed accelerating, at a pace undreamed of as recently as five years ago. This is not a reordering of companies or priorities or strategies. It is a reordering of people. Most recently, Michael Francis, the legendary retail marketer, has signed on at Walmart, as the world’s largest