Jason "Retail Geek" Goldberg returns as our very special guest, but first we cover tariff uncertainties crushing consumer confidence, Kohl's continuing sales decline, Ulta's beauty slowdown, and unicorn brands facing possible extinction. Goldberg then reveals how a handful of retail giants capture most market growth while traditional wholesalers are caught in an increasingly difficult middle ground.
The latest Remarkable Retail podcast delivers a compelling mix of current market news and expert analysis from returning guest Jason "Retail Geek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis.
Hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis kick off with the week's headlines, spotlighting the chaos caused by shifting tariff policies. They note that consumer confidence has plummeted amid economic uncertainty, creating leadership challenges across the retail landscape. Steve reflects that while the COVID crisis taught resilience, today's volatility requires leaders to embrace agility as "the New Black" while avoiding recklessness.
The retail news segment highlights several struggling players, most notably Kohl's with its disastrous twelfth consecutive quarter of sales decline. The hosts detail how new CEO Ashley Buchanan is pivoting back to private labels after previous leadership had emphasized national brands, while also apparently abandoning the once-touted Amazon returns program. Steve recounts visiting Kohl's stores filled with heavily discounted merchandise, describing them as "a train wreck" requiring both strategic and executional overhauls.
The hosts continue with Ulta Beauty posting modest growth, signaling a slowdown in a category that had performed exceptionally well post-pandemic. Dick's Sporting Goods delivered strong quarterly results but projected significantly slower future growth, reflecting a broader trend of caution across retail.
In what the hosts call the "wobbly unicorn corner," they examine former high-flyers facing existential challenges. Allbirds has lost nearly all its market value since IPO, with declining revenue despite shifting from direct-to-consumer to wholesale. Meanwhile, Stitch Fix shows modest signs of recovery under CEO Matt Baer's strategy of focusing on core customers rather than casting too wide a net.
When Jason Goldberg joins the conversation, he identifies three dominant client concerns: retail media networks (which he views skeptically), artificial intelligence (both transformative and overhyped), and economic uncertainty creating both challenges and opportunities.
Goldberg then provides illuminating analysis of retail market data, revealing that a small handful of giants—primarily Walmart, Amazon, Costco, and Chinese newcomers like Temu and Shein—capture the vast majority of all growth. While e-commerce growth has slowed from pandemic highs, it still significantly outpaces brick-and-mortar retail.
Most significantly, Goldberg explains retail's "bifurcation" between digital winners and losers, and between two successful business models: massive "everything stores" and highly curated specialty retailers. The traditional wholesale model caught in between—particularly department stores—is struggling regardless of execution quality or market position.
The episode ends with a teaser for part two, promising Goldberg's insights on the future of wholesale, Amazon's grocery ambitions, social commerce, and TikTok Shops—compelling reasons for listeners to return for the continuation of this insightful conversation.
Links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevendennis/2017/12/04/retail-reality-its-death-in-the-middle/
Jason's 2024 Retail Year End Recap
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7300023069450936322/