The Backroom with Retail Dive
What you read on Retail Dive is only part of the story. Our reporters and editors are constantly researching, reading and talking about the retail industry. Here’s a peek behind the curtain to what we are discussing in our newsroom. Welcome to the Backroom. Stay tuned for more episodes by following us on iTunes or on Stitcher.
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The Backroom: How the holidays are shaping up
With the first sales events of the season already come and gone, the team looks at the clues of how it will go this year.
By Retail Dive Staff • Oct. 26, 2023 -
The Backroom: Marisa Meltzer and the creation of Glossier
The journalist’s new book "Glossy" makes waves as it pulls back the curtain on Glossier founder Emily Weiss and the beauty brand that changed the industry.
By Retail Dive Staff • Sept. 28, 2023 -
The Backroom: A look back on the first half of 2023 for DTC brands
The team talks about the latest financial results from various players as the holidays quickly approach.
By Retail Dive Staff • Aug. 31, 2023 -
The Backroom: Jason Del Rey and ‘Winner Sells All’
One of the most prolific journalists covering the retail industry leverages his deep sourcing for an in-depth book about Amazon versus Walmart.
By Retail Dive Staff • July 27, 2023 -
The Backroom: Target’s silent Pride Month
The team talks about the realities of the backlash, including who is fomenting it and how other retailers’ Pride campaigns stack up.
By Retail Dive Staff • June 29, 2023 -
The Backroom: How the consumer is doing so far this year
Discretionary goods are a low priority amid an uncertain economy and a desire to spend on experiences, but retailers are holding their own. What about the rest of 2023?
By Retail Dive Staff • May 25, 2023 -
The Backroom: Why is Walmart selling off so many DTC brands?
The retailer bought, and sold off, several digital natives including Bonobos and Eloquii. The team discusses what this signals about the company's game plan.
By Retail Dive Staff • April 27, 2023 -
The Backroom: Unearthing financial details about J.C. Penney
The team talks about the treasure trove of information on the department store’s financial health, found thanks to a tip from one of its new owners.
By Retail Dive Staff • March 30, 2023 -
The Backroom: What the ‘MetaBirkin’ NFT verdict means for art and commerce
The team chats about how Hermès' legal win impacts retail at large, and why Mason Rothschild plans to appeal.
By Retail Dive Staff • Feb. 23, 2023 -
The Backroom: What’s going on with DTC this year?
The team introduces new co-host Dani James and talks about changes in the direct-to-consumer space and the ongoing importance of brick and mortar.
By Retail Dive Staff • Jan. 26, 2023 -
The Backroom: Ushering in the new year with Doug Stephens
What retailers should know about the realities of the metaverse and more futuristic observations from the retail prophet.
By Retail Dive Staff • Dec. 29, 2022 -
The Backroom: What holiday looks like from here
The team sits down to discuss what recent events suggest about this year's unpredictable shopping season.
By Retail Dive Staff • Nov. 24, 2022 -
The Backroom: Retail bankruptcies are poised for a comeback
What can we learn about the industry as a whole by looking at its weakest players?
By Retail Dive Staff • Oct. 27, 2022 -
The Backroom: The idiosyncrasies of this year’s holiday consumer
Retailers are navigating a challenge likely to define the 2022 season: inflation.
By Retail Dive Staff • Sept. 29, 2022 -
The Backroom: The remains of Sears
Senior Reporter Ben Unglesbee discusses his recent trip to one of the few remaining Sears department stores in the country.
By Retail Dive Staff • Aug. 25, 2022 -
The Backroom: Planet retail
Retailers know they have an important role in addressing climate change. But navigating sustainability is riddled with challenges.
By Retail Dive Staff • July 28, 2022 -
The Backroom: Enjoy Technology set out to disrupt retail. But it got disrupted instead.
Led by former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson, the now-bankrupt “commerce-at-home” company has suffered from constrained supply and high costs.
By Retail Dive Staff • June 30, 2022 -
The Backroom: What Walmart and Target tell us about the state of retail in 2022
Rising food and gas prices are causing consumers to pull back on discretionary spending. That hurt retailers in the first quarter.
By Retail Dive Staff • May 26, 2022 -
The Backroom: What's going on at Amazon?
The e-commerce giant is grappling with many challenges, including union efforts and its Prime delivery promises.
By Retail Dive Staff • April 28, 2022 -
The Backroom: The world according to AlixPartners' Joel Bines
The consultant has spent decades working in and for the retail industry. We sat down with him to get his take on where the industry is headed.
By Retail Dive Staff • March 31, 2022 -
The Backroom: Kohl's vs. Wall Street
Activist investors have pressured the retailer to divest assets and potentially even sell itself. Retail Dive reporters discuss the implications of such moves.
By Retail Dive Staff • Feb. 24, 2022 -
The Backroom: The surprising importance of the retail middleman, with BMO Capital Markets' Simeon Siegel
The last two decades of retail disruption were supposed to mean the death of wholesale. Recent research shows that brands should think twice about that.
By Retail Dive Staff • Jan. 27, 2022 -
The Backroom: Our traditional interview with the retail prophet, Doug Stephens
While the pandemic isn't over, 2021 seemed to show that physical locations remain important to retail. But each store must have something to offer.
By Daphne Howland • Dec. 30, 2021 -
The Backroom: Another disruptive holiday season
Vaccines have changed the shopping landscape this year, as have supply chain bottlenecks. Retail Dive reporters look at how the season is playing out.
By Retail Dive Staff • Nov. 25, 2021 -
The Backroom: Why is the idea of splitting off e-commerce so popular all of a sudden?
Senior Reporters Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee discuss why Wall Street likes it, why others don't and how Sears' decline serves as a cautionary tale.
By Retail Dive Staff • Oct. 28, 2021