TGC

Kevin was asked to comment on the resignation of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel. There’s probably more there that we don’t know,” said Kevin Mullaney, president of The Grayson Company, a New York City-based retail industry consultancy. “It’s probably the best deal he would have gotten. He took the blame and responsibility. ... If you look at Gregg’s tenure, Target’s revenues increased, but the net incomes have stagnated.” Revenue has increase 11 percent to $74.8 billion between fiscal years 2010 and 2014, while net income has fallen nearly 12 percent to $2.19 billion in the same period of time. Mullaney says it’s difficult to tell whether Steinhafel is departing mainly because of the massive data breach in December that the company said may have affected “millions of customer credit and debit card records,” or because of Target’s $941 million losses last year in its Canadian expansion. Check out the rest of the article at [...]

Bob commented on the trend of apparel makers using manmade fibers instead of cotton. "I don't believe that this is cyclical—I believe that this is evolutionary," said Bob Grayson, former chief executive of Limited Stores and Lerner New York and founder of Grayson Co., a retail and consumer consulting group. "Just as technology impacts other categories, technology is now impacting fashion." Check out the rest of the article at The Wall Street Journal.

An excellent article headlined “Retailing’s Battlefield: Fight for Market Share” written by Evan Clark appeared in the March 10 edition of WWD.  Clark artfully and convincingly made the case of how aggressively and brutally the fight to win today’s consumer’s transactions and loyalty really is, and how strongly success, and even survival, depend on retailers’ constant injection of change into their business strategies—changes in product categories and mix, changes in distribution channels, changes in pricing, changes in the paths used to reach their customers with their marketing messages.  I agree that the magnitude and the pace of change have never been greater, but having worked in the retail industry for nearly 50 years, (I started working in an IGA grocery store at age 14), I also note that the industry has always experienced and been driven by significant change. Granted, current changes are dramatic, but in fact they are simply the current [...]

Just finished looking through, and then actually reading, cover to cover, a brilliant marketing piece received from Brooks Brothers.  Don’t believe I’ve ever seen a more masterful blend of brand imaging and communication of actual product attributes.  So often in our discussions, even with highly respected industry executives, their views on brand building are focused exclusively on advertising, marketing, PR, etc., with little if any attention to the attributes and features of products to be sold under the brand.  While the imaging throughout the Brooks Brothers “1818 Lifestyle Magazine” was beautiful and compelling, it was the combination of the imaging and real product information about real product attributes which I’m convinced would ring the bell of both current and prospective customers.  What made it all work was that the product attributes were as bull’s eye brand appropriate as the imaging. -The authenticity of Brooks Brothers’ Scottish Tartans, the cashmeres from the oldest [...]