Ushering in the new year with Doug Stephens
What retailers should know about the realities of the metaverse and more futuristic observations from the retail prophet.
Dec 29, 2022•51 min
The Backroom with Retail Dive
Podcast by Retail Dive
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Episodes
What holiday looks like from here
The team sits down to discuss what recent events suggest about this year's unpredictable shopping season.
Nov 24, 2022•27 min
Retail bankruptcies are poised for a comeback
What can we learn about the industry as a whole by looking at its weakest players?
Oct 27, 2022•26 min
The Idiosyncrasies Of This Year’s Holiday Consumer
Retailers are taking on a new challenge likely to define the 2022 season: inflation.
Sep 29, 2022•16 min
The remains of Sears
Backroom co-host Ben Unglesbee discusses his recent trip to one of the few remaining Sears stores in the country.
Aug 25, 2022•31 min
Planet Retail
Retailers know they have an important role in addressing climate change. But navigating sustainability is riddled with challenges.
Jul 28, 2022•27 min
Bankrupt Enjoy Technology Set Out To Disrupt Retail. But It Got Disrupted Instead.
Led by former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson, the “commerce-at-home” company has suffered from constrained supply and high costs. Note: This conversation was recorded prior to Enjoy Technology's June 30 bankruptcy filing.
Jun 30, 2022•26 min
What Walmart And Target Told Us About Retail In 2022
Rising food and gas prices are causing consumers to pull back on discretionary spending. That hurt retailers in the first quarter.
May 26, 2022•19 min
What's Going On With Amazon?
The e-commerce giant is grappling with many challenges, including union efforts and its Prime delivery promises.
Apr 28, 2022•22 min
The World According To AlixPartners' Joel Bines
The consultant has spent decades working in and for the retail industry. We sat down with him this past February to get his take on where the industry is headed.
Mar 31, 2022•39 min
Kohl's versus Wall Street
Activist investors have pressured the retailer to divest assets and potentially even sell itself. Retail Dive reporters discuss the implications of such moves.
Feb 24, 2022•21 min
The Surprising Importance Of The Retail Middleman, With BMO Capital Markets’ Simeon Siegel
The last two decades of retail disruption was supposed to mean the death of wholesale. But recent research shows that brands should think twice about that.
Jan 27, 2022•28 min
Our traditional interview with the retail prophet, Doug Stephens
While the pandemic isn't over, 2021 seemed to show that physical locations remain important to retail. But each store must have something to offer, Doug Stephens tells Retail Dive's Daphne Howland.
Dec 30, 2021•53 min
Another Disruptive Holiday Season
Vaccines have changed the shopping landscape this year, as have supply chain bottlenecks. Retail Dive reporters look at how the season is playing out.
Nov 25, 2021•23 min
Why is the idea of splitting off e-commerce so popular all of a sudden?
Senior Reporters Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee discuss why Wall Street likes it, why others don't and how Sears' decline serves as a cautionary tale.
Oct 28, 2021•28 min
What do changes at Stitch Fix say about e-commerce?
Senior Reporters Ben Unglesbee and Daphne Howland talk about turmoil at the apparel e-retailer, DTC companies and online sales in general.
Sep 30, 2021•23 min
Delta's looming impact on retail
On this episode, Retail Dive's Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee discuss the implications of the new variant on the industry.
Aug 26, 2021•18 min
When Reebok was on top of the world
Retail Dive’s senior editor discusses the past and alternate histories of the brand that once topped even Nike.
Jul 29, 2021•34 min
Reebok was meant to be a 'Nike killer.' How the brand lost its No. 1 spot
In the '80s, Reebok was the top sports brand for a time. Now it's dwarfed by Nike and Adidas. We take a look at the history of the brand, through the lens of the people who were there.
Jul 26, 2021•47 min
In e-commerce, it's growth versus profits
In 2020, digital operations probably saved a lot of retailers when consumers were unable or unwilling to visit stores. But how sustainable is online retail in the long run?
Jun 24, 2021•27 min
A former Blockbuster insider chronicles its many blunders
If you think Blockbuster is merely a story about technology, take a second look. Former franchisee Alan Payne discusses its long-deteriorating operations.
May 27, 2021•46 min
Just how competitive are retail markets?
A talk with author and antitrust expert Sally Hubbard about what shifts in competition policy and enforcement could mean for the retail industry writ large.
Apr 29, 2021•33 min
How a $15 minimum wage could impact retail
At the federal level, the minimum wage has remained unchanged since 2009 at $7.25 an hour. The team discusses what an increase could mean for the industry.
Mar 25, 2021•18 min
Amazon enters a new phase
The Retail Dive team talks about how retailers have paved their own way, as Jeff Bezos prepares to hand over the CEO reins at the e-commerce giant.
Feb 25, 2021•28 min
Family Video, GameStop and the precarious lives of media stores
A look at what went wrong for the last video chain as well as the fates of other retailers of cultural products.
Jan 28, 2021•32 min
BONUS: What the pandemic means for the future of retail
A follow-up discussion with retail prophet Doug Stephens, who has been mulling the disease outbreak's implications for a forthcoming book.
Jan 14, 2021•33 min
What Black Friday tells us about retail in 2021
The shopping holiday was defined by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its defining trends and repercussions will likely follow the industry into the next year.
Dec 17, 2020•23 min
J.C. Penney's slow ride through bankruptcy
The department store's deal to sell itself to landlords Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management is in its final stages. But its struggles are far from over.
Nov 19, 2020•25 min
How retailers are navigating holiday 2020
As the season kickstarts earlier than ever, the industry braces for a fourth quarter plagued by uncertainty.
Oct 29, 2020•22 min
Walmart+ vs. Amazon Prime
Why did Walmart launch a membership service, and how can it compete with Amazon Prime? Senior Reporters Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee break it down.
Sep 24, 2020•31 min
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