Retail Leader Trend Talk

Serving shoppers in Spanish and English, Curacao is one of the largest Hispanic retailers in southern California and growing. The retailer offers a one-stop shop for all things in the home along with apparel, jewelry, toys, fragrances and other lines. In turn, shoppers enjoy Curacao for the treasure hunt through multiple departments, and the financial services the retail offers its consumers.

Retail Leader’s Chief Retail Analyst Elizabeth Lafontaine dives into the trends that emerged throughout the third quarter. Both consumers and the broader retail industry faced obstacles in the back half of the year including soaring debt levels, increased retail crime, M&A activity and consumer focus on value. The third quarter also represents a shift for the retail industry in many ways: the highly promotional back-to-school season comes to a close and retailers and consumers look ahead to the holidays and gifting.

This year, GoodwillFinds has sold nearly a half million one-of-a-kind items and grew its purpose-driven community to an impressive 650,000 weekly newsletter subscribers. The momentum seen in GoodwillFinds signals a larger theme the industry is seeing across the resale industry as a whole.

In July, JCPenney reopened its new corporate offices in Plano, Texas, in the same building where the retailer operated for 28 years prior to the pandemic. JCPenney’s return to its 320,000 sq. foot state-of-the-art facility marked a transformative moment for the retailer as it drives forward a new hybrid work strategy for associates. This month, JCPenney also announced a multi-year, $1 billion reinvestment plan to improve customer experience and operational efficiencies.

Claire's has a long-standing history and passion for self-expression. Today, the iconic global fashion retailer finds itself with Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers sitting at the intersection of the physical and digital spaces. Retail Leader spoke with Chris Duncan, Claire’s vice president of consumer insights and digital marketing, about Claire's partnership with gaming studio Super League and growing its ShimmerVille experience on Roblox to keep a pipeline of newness engaging consumers online and driving shoppers to physical stores.

While mass merchants and large grocery chains are always going to be critically important to Ferrero North America’s sales, the dollar channel offers a new avenue for the company to grow. Ferrero has taken on the challenge of showcasing value while also maintaining a premium brand.Retail Leader spoke with Noah Szporn, senior vice president of Nutella at Ferrero North America, about how premium products still can flourish during inflationary times.

In this episode of “Trend Talk,” Retail Leader chats with Adeela Hussain Johnson, the president of travel brand BÉIS. Johnson shares how Mitchell has been involved in the brand since its inception, and how her role has evolved as BÉIS has grown. She also answers key questions facing every DTC brand, including how to best leverage social media platforms and whether BÉIS is planning to open its own brick-and-mortar stores in the future.

Retail Leader spoke with Tal Zvi Nathanel, the co-founder of Showfields, just after the opening of its latest location in Washington, D.C. The new store, called House of Showfields, is the fifth location for the department store that was founded in New York City in 2019. We dive into experiential retail, why most retail isn’t “democratized” and how in-store technology is key to Showfields’ strategy.

In this episode of Retail Leader Trend Talk, we’re chatting with Carman Allison, the vice president of thought leadership for North America at NielsenIQ. We’re breaking down the economic pressures consumers are facing this holiday season and how retailers can overcome challenges to keep consumers coming back.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we sit down with Paul Loux, the vice president of store design and experience at Ulta Beauty. We chat about the new design at Ulta Beauty, the retailer's growing omnichannel efforts, Gen Z consumers, and more.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we catch up with Braden Jones, CEO of Orbit Baby, to learn how the e-commerce company enhanced its omnichannel strategy with livestreaming, virtual demos and a new digital showroom.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we catch up with Caroline McCarthy, co-founder and vice president of growth of Starday Foods, a startup food conglomerate that takes a data-driven approach to launch emerging food brands. Tune in as we discuss the art and science of the food and beverage industry, plus how Starday cut a deal to be on Kroger shelves just weeks after launching.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we dive into the top retail trends that are hot in the minds of executives. Tune in as Lisa Johnston, senior editor of CGT, reveals the latest trends across the industry in this special minisode.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we're diving deep into Pacworld, the new metaverse world from Pacsun. Tune into the interview with Co-CEO Alfred Chang to hear more about the retailer's moves in the metaverse and beyond.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we chat with Danielle Jezienicki, director of sustainability for Grove Collaborative, about ongoing sustainability trends and challenges in the CPG industry. Speaking ahead of Grove's upcoming IPO, Jezienicki clues us in on the company's plastic-free promise and how to better understand the broad goals being made across the industry.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we tackle sustainability with Scot Case, vice president of sustainability at the National Retail Federation. Tune into the interview as Retail Leader Editor Amy Baxter and Case discuss sustainability trends in retail, how retailers are crafting a new sustainability language and why net-zero is about to be huge.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we catch up with Hana Ben-Shabat, author and founder of Gen Z Planet. In an interview with Editor Amy Baxter, Ben-Shabat dives in the world of Gen Z, including what retailers need to know about this generation and what makes them so unique. Ben-Shabat is a featured author of the Retail Leader Book Club. Her book, Gen Z 360: Preparing for the Inevitable Change in Culture, Work and Commerce, explores the impact of Gen Z in culture, the workplace and in commerce.

This week on Retail Leader Trend Talk, we dive into the evolving role of the retail associate with Regina Aiello, vice president of sales innovations and sales partnerships at Ben Bridge Jeweler. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated big changes in the way retail associates work with customers. Plus, we explore the role of technology in this evolution with Oscar Sachs, CEO of Salesfloor.