Newsletter Articles
HANA and Her Sisters: A Rejuvenated SAP Looks Forward at Sapphire 2013
May 20, 2013
The most graphic way to describe the change in SAP expressed at Sapphire 2013 is to start from the end: co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe on the stage at the Amway arena introducing the “Celebration Night” concert (Bonnie Raitt, Martina McBride and Alan Jackson), arm-in-arm, dressed in jeans and clearly feeling no pain. [...]
Who Says the Store is Dead? Whole Foods Market Theater Comes to North Miami
May 6, 2013
This year, for the first time, I’m not co-authoring RSR’s annual store benchmark report. Of course, the report is in great hands with Nikki and Steve, and having seen an early draft, I can tell you it’s going to be good! But “store benchmark season” always brings the question to mind, “Is the store dead?” [...]
The CEO as Rock Star: My Evolving Mindset
April 30, 2013
When politicians say their opinion on a particular subject has “evolved” you know you’re about to hear a complete flip-flop. I suppose it’s easier than saying “I was wrong.” Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of a CEO in retail. It’s only natural, really. We’ve seen the [shocking] debacle of Ron Johnson [...]
Ron Johnson and JCP
April 16, 2013
As we bid a last farewell to Ron Johnson at JCP (or Penney, or whatever new name comes along) it’s worthy to take a look back at his sixteen month tenure. Most industry observers were excited to see him come on board. In my own case, it wasn’t because he’d ‘rocked it’ at the Apple [...]
Requiem for a Heavyweight: Ron Johnson and JC Penney
April 11, 2013
As we bid a last farewell to Ron Johnson at JCP (or Penney, or whatever new name comes along) it’s worthy to take a look back at his sixteen month tenure. Most industry observers were excited to see him come on board. In my own case, it wasn’t because he’d ‘rocked it’ at the Apple [...]
Demandware XChange 2013
April 9, 2013
Spring conference season kicked off with a bang this year as I trekked out to Las Vegas for Demandware’s annual user conference and a most delightful experience. I’ll wax poetic about Tim Gunn’s keynote and my delightful interactions with him later. What you want to know about, and what I need to talk about is [...]
Bob Nardelli to become Co-CEO of JCP
April 1, 2013
In a move that is sure to stun the industry, Bob Nardelli has been appointed co-CEO of struggling JC Penney effective April 15. A JCP board member who wishes to remain anonymous said, “Bob has extensive experience turning around struggling enterprises. We’re excited to bring him along to assist in JCP’s reinvention.” Ron Johnson, who [...]
Lean In: Why Retail Women of All Ages Should Read It
March 19, 2013
I am a most unlikely woman to be writing about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s over-, and poorly-hyped new book “Lean In” (more about what’s “poor” about the hype in a moment). Most long-time friends will tell you I’ve been saying “You’re only as oppressed as you feel” for longer than many of our readers have [...]
LoopIt: Social as a Service
March 12, 2013
When you’ve sold your first venture to major players what do you do for an encore? While I might be content to buy a catamaran and spend years roaming around the Caribbean, others actually try to do it again. And that brings me to LoopIt, the next act for founders of Endeca, ATG and the [...]
‘I Did Not See That Coming’: Getting Nimble
March 5, 2013
On February 27, I had the opportunity to participate in an internet radio show on Voice America with two other strong and successful women, Vicki Cantrell, SVP, Communities and Executive Director, Shop.org, and Lori Mitchell-Keller, head of the Global Retail Industry Business Unit for SAP. We’re three women who don’t agree on everything, but it [...]