by stevenpdennis | Mar 22, 2022 | A Really Bad Time to Be Boring, Growth, Strategy
Earlier this month Kohl’s used its Investor Day presentation to boldly declare that it was no longer a department store, but rather a “focused active and casual lifestyle destination.” The management team then laid out a series of initiatives designed to bring that...
by stevenpdennis | Nov 30, 2020 | A Really Bad Time to Be Boring, Innovation, Radical
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic concept that finds beauty in imperfection and the universe’s natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. Practicing wabi-sabi means eschewing the unnecessary, getting rid of the clutter, and valuing authenticity above all else....
by stevenpdennis | Mar 10, 2022 | A Really Bad Time to Be Boring, Remarkable Retail
One of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ oft-repeated quotations is “your margin is my opportunity.” While its origins are a bit sketchy, the aphorism has generally been taken to mean that Amazon’s success relies on its attacking retail sectors where...
by stevenpdennis | Jun 18, 2020 | A Really Bad Time to Be Boring, Leadership
Over the last few years I’ve gotten a fair amount of mileage out of my catch-phrase “Physical retail isn’t dead. Boring retail is.” And, accordingly, I’m often asked: “okay, so what’s the opposite of boring?” My tendency...
by stevenpdennis | Jun 16, 2020 | A Really Bad Time to Be Boring, Disruption, Innovation, Retail
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 4 (“The Collapse of the Middle”) of my new book. Last week, nearly a year later, I went back to the mall that is referenced below. Sadly, nothing has changed. I guess the Austin area is immune from the forces of...
by stevenpdennis | Apr 24, 2020 | A Really Bad Time to Be Boring, Disruption, Remarkable Retail
The following is excerpted from my just released book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption, which I finished writing and editing at the end of last year. Many people believe that the COVID-19 crisis is the proximate cause...
