Brick & Mortar Reborn

On today’s episode of the Brick and Mortar Reborn podcast, Bobby speaks with Matt Ensero, President and Founder of Wing It On!, a fast casual concept focusing on serving authentic buffalo wings for takeout or dine-in. They discuss Matt's journey from pivoting from a career in finance and sales to bootstrapping a "wing joint for wing nuts" — and why slow, patient growth was the key to Wing It On!'s success. They also discuss how Wing It On! leverages technology to enhance the customer experience and improve order accuracy, how to hire the best operators for your business, and the necessity of experiencing what your customers are experiencing. Topics discussed:

In this episode of the Retail Experience Show, Tal Zvi Nathanel, CEO and co-founder of Showfields, joins Bobby to discuss the vital role of experiential retail in today's landscape. Tal shares his perspectives on the importance of creating memorable experiences that engage customers' senses, offer inspiration, and provide validation. He delves into how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift in customer expectations and the need for retailers to understand their target audience to create tailored experiences. Additionally, Tal explores the potential of technology in retail to enhance customer experiences, provide valuable insights for brands, and bridge the gap between in-store and online interactions. Key Topics Discussed:

On today’s episode of the Brick and Mortar Reborn podcast, Bobby speaks with David Leonardo, CEO of Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream, a shop serving up fresh, made-to-order ice cream. They discuss Chill-N's unique way of creating ice cream, and how they've automated steps to increase throughput to meet customer demand. They also discuss what makes a successful franchisee, how not to fall into the trap of believing a first profitable store means more profitable stores, how franchisees can instill great customer service in their employees, and how great teams create success. Topics discussed:

In this episode, our host Bobby Marahmat speaks with Andrew Pudalov, Founder and CEO of Rush Bowls, a healthy quick serve restaurant with more than 40 locations across the US with plans to add 20 more new locations in 2023. Topics discussed:

In today’s podcast, Bobby is joined by Nadina Guglielmetti, Vice President, General Manager, Marketing at The Vitamin Shoppe, a popular specialty vitamin and supplement retailer. Nadina shares how her team at the Vitamin Shoppe makes use of a process that allows them to democratize work and enables them to plan and strategize with consistency across all channels whether it be for brand launches, promotions, or brand messaging. She highlights the importance of leveraging data and technology and of having a solid understanding of both the online and offline world in building better customer relationships. Topics discussed:

Jenna Flateman Posner is the Chief Digital Officer for SNIPES, one of the fastest growing sneaker and streetwear retail platforms in Europe and the US. Jenna is a seasoned retail industry professional having worked as a retail technologist and digital retailer for an impressive lineup of innovative tech startups like Radius8 (Fiserve), Clutch, Curalate (Bazaarevoice) and Levelup (GrubHub). In this episode, Jenna gives us an overview on her current role at SNIPES, and shares some tips on how she supports all channels of the business by prioritizing customer experience, cultivating a strong partnership with vendors, and leveraging technology to expedite and augment her team’s efforts. Topics discussed:

Tal Zvi Nathanel is the CEO & Co-Founder of SHOWFIELD, a multi-brand department store environment built for today’s customers and tomorrow’s brands. With a background in technology and event experiences, and inspired by the power of physical stores to stimulate all of our senses, Tal is driving democratization in the retail sector by bringing new brands and new customers together in shared spaces. SHOWFIELD’s unique ‘C-Commerce’ approach pushes them to constantly innovate, asking critical questions about what a customer journey really looks like today, and how they can always keep relevant. Topics discussed:

Barruch Ben-Zekry is the Founder and CEO of Out&Back, a managed marketplace for outdoor gear leveling up the peer-to-peer resale experience. He joins the show to talk about why re-commerce has so much potential in the outdoors market, how building partnerships with brick-and-mortar stores helps drive growth in a largely digital industry, and why customer experience is central to sustainable growth. Topics discussed:

Craig Patterson is the Editor-in-Chief of the leading Canadian retail industry news magazine, Retail Insider. He joins the show to discuss how retail has changed in the last few years, why online shopping still has value in a post-covid world, and his take on the future of retail. Topics discussed:

Marshall Kay is the founder of RFID Sherpas and a retail entrepreneurial consultant. In this episode, we dive into the technology of RFID technology, and how it can help retail brands in their stores. RFID creates smart lables that will help stores collect and manage more data about the movement of their inventories. This technology is inexpensive to implement and it will fundamentally improve the running of your store. Topics discussed:

Ron Thurston is the host of the Retail in America Podcast. He spent many years working on the front lines of retail, and then he wrote his book, Retail Pride, to celebrate his career journey. On his book tour, he also meets front line retail workers around the country and documents his adventures on his podcast. On the show today, we talk about what it’s like to work on the front lines of retail in 2022. Ron shares everything retail businesses need to know about supporting the workers on the front lines. Topics discussed:

April Sabral is the founder and CEO of retailu, an online, on-demand leadership development platform for retail professionals. She is also the author of The Positive Effect, where she details her journey working in retail. In the episode today, we talk about the biggest lessons April has to share about leadership in the retail industry, including her ACT model that she uses to teach retail professionals how to build strong teams. Topics discussed:

Mina Fader is the Managing Director of Wharton’s Baker Retailing Center at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode, Mina discusses the present and future state of retail. She breaks down the fate of the brick and mortar space in the digital, post-COVID world, and you might be surprised to hear her take on where retail is heading in the future. Topics discussed:

Hitha is the Chief Research Officer at H Squared Research LLC, a consumer spending columnist at US News and World Report, and the author of the book “Black Market Billions: How Organized Retail Crimes Fund Terrorists.” She is a self-proclaimed futurist related to all things retail, and in this episode, she discusses some of the trends that we should be looking for in the retail space. Topics discussed:

What is the NRF (National Retail Federation) and what do they do? Today’s guest, Katherine Cullen, is the senior director of industry and consumer insights for the National Retail Federation’s research team. That means that she leads NRF’s research on consumer spending and emerging retail trends. What does that information tell us about retail today? Listen to today’s interview to learn more about it. You’ll hear what Katherine has to say about her own journey to the NRF, why in-location experiences remain so important, and what she has to share about Generation Z’s shopping and buying behaviors. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE:

Over recent years, there have been many changes in what people expect from retailers. People want to shop locally, but they also want the convenience afforded to them by big retailers. SpotOn helps smaller retailers achieve that. Today, you’ll hear from Doron Friedman, co-founder of SpotOn. Listen to the episode to hear more about Doron and SpotOn, and how SpotOn helps businesses. Learn how SpotOn’s clients use the service, how it helps them cope with changing trends and challenges, and why small businesses should be thinking about using alternative types of payment. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: ✔ How Doron got to where he is ✔ What types of businesses SpotOn brings on board ✔ How SpotOn’s clients use SpotOn ✔ Changes and trends that Doron has seen in customer behavior ✔ How SpotOn helps brands with changes and challenges ✔ Core technology needs that businesses have ✔ What merchants get wrong about investing in tech ✔ Why small businesses would want to introduce alternative payments ✔ How smaller businesses can compete with bigger e-tailers ✔ The big lessons that Doron has learned

Has the definition or expectation of convenience changed over time? The people who might best know the answer to this are people in the convenience store business – people like today’s guest. Pervez Pir is the President of Retail at Loop Neighborhood Marketplace, and he has an important perspective on the value of convenience and convenience stores in the lives of the people who use those stores. Listen to the episode to hear what Pervez has to say about Loop’s retail strategies, what trends have changed in recent years, and what’s most important to creating the Loop experience. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: ✔ What Pervez does now and how he got there ✔ How Loop came about and how Perez got introduced to it ✔ What Loop caters to ✔ Why people love coming back to Loop ✔ The strategy behind Loop’s locations ✔ How the definition of convenience has evolved ✔ Trends that have changed since the COVID days ✔ What’s most important to the Loop experience ✔ Why Loop’s customers visit so often ✔ The lessons Pervez has taken from being in the convenience store business for so long ✔ What’s going to change in convenience ✔ Advice on how to grow in the convenience store business

When you’re a business operator, how can you make sure you’re on track, gather the information you need, and keep up with what your team needs and what they’re doing? The answer is good operations management. And that’s what today’s guest’s business does – operations management and analytics. Tommy Yionoulis is the founder of OpsAnalitica. Previously he worked in restaurants and also did a stint as a stand-up comedian. Listen to today’s episode to hear what Tommy has to say about why he founded OpsAnalitica, what benefits businesses see from Tommy’s platform, and how his services work for brick and mortar businesses. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: ✔ What Tommy is all about ✔ What made Tommy start OpsAnalitica ✔ Ops Analytica’s typical customers ✔ The benefits of using Tommy’s platform ✔ Changes that Tommy’s seen in the past few years ✔ The data that helps operators manage their businesses ✔ Challenges that Tommy sees operators facing ✔ Tommy’s view of technology in the workplace ✔ Operations management in brick and mortar industries ✔ Advice Tommy would give to help operators streamline operations

Retail has undergone a lot of changes over the past few years. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Dan Goldman, strategic consumer and retail industry executive who explains what’s changed for the retail industry during the pandemic, the importance of focusing on creating closer relationships with customers and appealing to their motivations, and what Dan foresees for the future of retail. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: ✔ Dan’s career and how he got in the clothing industry ✔ Fun things Dan does in his current role ✔ How things have changed for retailers during the pandemic ✔ How to create a closer relationship with customers ✔ Different motivators that are driving consumers these days ✔ How store environments and associates interact with customers to build connections ✔ Common mistakes that brands make ✔ Dan’s definition of a great retail brand in 2022 ✔ Focusing on ways to connect with new customers ✔ Dan’s suggestions for retail brands of the future

You can’t think about brick-and-mortar retail without considering franchises. Is a franchise right for you? Will a specific franchise work in your region of the US? How much work does it take to maintain a franchise? These are some of the important questions that a person must consider when thinking about franchising. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Lance Graulich, founder and CEO of ION Franchising. Listen to the episode to hear what Lance has to say about assessing whether a potential franchisee is ready, which industries are fun, challenging, or lucrative, and common mistakes that new franchisees make. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: ✔ Lance’s background ✔ What Lance does ✔ Whether Lance has to assess whether people are ready to own a franchise ✔ The most fun franchise brands Lance has been part of ✔ When do you know whether to look into a franchise or start your own business ✔ Whether some ideas only work in certain regions of the United States ✔ How to test something that works in one region to see if it will work in other parts of the US ✔ The most popular franchise categories ✔ The most difficult franchise categories ✔ Industries that are lucrative but challenging to get into ✔ The right time to start franchising ✔ Problems that up-and-coming franchisees encounter ✔ Common mistakes of franchisee ✔ Advice for new franchisees