Mother’s Day: A $32B Holiday and How to Prepare
Mother’s Day falls on May 14th this year, and shoppers will spend upwards of $30B on flowers, gifts, cards, and meals. Spending has been increasing on this holiday, and retailers and restaurants can still take steps now and afterward to optimize the shopper experience and boost sales volume. Both in-store and online, multi-location brands must […]
Celebrities Who Help Turn Multi-Location Food Brands Into Stars
Celebrities, including actors and athletes, have long invested in businesses that will help guarantee them a nest egg after their fame has waned. Many now even have their own investment firms. Some, like Mark Wahlberg and Michael Jordan, developed branded concepts, while others invested in multi-location brand franchises. Among the multi-location food brands with celebrity investors […]
The C-Store of the Future: Beyond Gas & Gum
Although the industry has consolidated in recent years, close to 150K convenience stores (C-store) exist in the U.S. We may take them for granted, but they are a staple of modern life. The C-store is a solution whether we need pain relief, diapers at 2 AM, or a much-needed rest stop and re-fuel (physically or […]
What’s Next for Tommy Bahama? A Study in Growth Through Diversification
The lines between retail and dining have been steadily blurring over the years as more brands build memorable experiences, enabling consumers to eat where they shop and play where they eat. A natural growth progression for many multi-location brands is to play in the hospitality space, and that’s exactly what Tommy Bahama is doing this […]
“Omnitalking” with Chris Walton About Trends in the Retail Space
For about twelve years, Chris Walton held various management positions at Target. His last position was VP of “Store of the Future,” when he worked with his Co-CEO of Omnitalk, Anne Mezzenga. They started the Omnitalk venture in 2017, combining their 40+ years of retail experience to focus on game-changing trends in the retail space, focusing […]
Losers & Winners in Retail Today
New retail categories are emerging as companies like Bed Bath & Beyond, Party City, and others struggle to keep their doors open. The impact of online shopping, the pandemic, and supply chain issues (along with commercial real estate expenses) has seriously affected many brick-and-mortar store brands. Yet, new categories of multi-location retail and service businesses […]
FAT Brands Serves Up a Charitable Venture
Charitable giving is on the upswing, and consumer shopping behavior and multi-location brands can sway perception via charity-related campaigns. But “doing good can go bad” when companies launch charity efforts without being thoughtful and transparent. That’s why multi-location FAT Brands put significant thought and effort into creating its newly-launched FAT Brands Foundation. Philanthropy tied to a […]
The Retail Employee of the Future: Human, Robot, or Combo?
Among the many challenges multi-location retail brands face are two common ones. Finding and retaining the best people and the role of automation in their businesses are top-of-mind across all retail categories. These two are closely related, as retailers incorporate self-serve technologies into their operations and AI into their marketing strategies and execution. The human […]
Big Brands, Local Perspectives: Tommy Bahama
CEO of Tommy Bahama Doug Wood cites systems that don’t talk to or easily integrate with one another as his company’s biggest technological challenge right now. The company, like many multi-store retailers, is investing in and focusing on tying its brick-and-mortar and online businesses together.
Hire Purpose: Five Creative Ways to Help Solve the Staff Shortage
Restaurants have nearly 2 million unfilled jobs, and retailers are down about 5.5 million workers. If you work in these industries, you probably know the many reasons behind the staff shortage. The after-effects of the pandemic, demographic shifts, and the pressures of competitive salaries in other industries have created a huge challenge for hiring managers […]