Podcast

The Backroom with Retail Dive: Page 2

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: 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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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
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    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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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 • Dec. 30, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    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
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    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
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: What do changes at Stitch Fix say about e-commerce?

    Senior Reporters Ben Unglesbee and Daphne Howland talk about turmoil at the apparel e-retailer, DTC companies and online sales in general.

    By Retail Dive Team • Sept. 30, 2021
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    The Backroom: Delta's looming impact on retail

    On this episode, Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee discuss the implications of the new variant on the industry.

    By Retail Dive Team • Aug. 26, 2021
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    The Backroom: When Reebok was on top of the world

    Retail Dive's senior editor discusses the past and alternate histories of the brand that once topped even Nike.

    By • July 29, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: In e-commerce, it's growth versus profits

    In 2020, digital operations saved retailers when consumers couldn't or wouldn't visit stores. But how sustainable is online retail in the long run?

    By • June 24, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: A former Blockbuster insider chronicles its many blunders

    If you think Blockbuster is merely a story about technology, take a second look. Former franchisee Alan Payne discusses its long-deteriorating operations. 

    By • May 27, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: Just how competitive are retail markets?

    A talk with author and antitrust expert Sally Hubbard about what shifts in competition policy and enforcement could mean for the retail industry writ large.

    By • April 29, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: How a $15 minimum wage could impact retail

    At the federal level, the minimum wage hasn't changed since 2009 at $7.25 an hour. The team discusses what an increase could mean for the industry.

    By • March 25, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: Amazon enters a new phase

    The team talks about how retailers have paved their own way, as Jeff Bezos prepares to hand over the CEO reins at the e-commerce giant.

    By • Feb. 25, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: Family Video, GameStop and the precarious lives of media stores

    The team breaks down what went wrong for the last video chain as well as the fates of other retailers of cultural products.

    By • Jan. 28, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: What the pandemic means for the future of retail

    A follow-up discussion with "retail prophet" Doug Stephens, who has been mulling the disease outbreak's implications for the industry.

    By • Jan. 14, 2021
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: What Black Friday tells us about retail in 2021

    The shopping holiday was defined by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its trends and repercussions will likely follow the industry into the next year. 

    By Retail Dive Team • Dec. 17, 2020
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: J.C. Penney's slow ride through bankruptcy

    The department store's deal to sell itself to landlords Simon and Brookfield is in its final stages. But the retailer's struggles are far from over.

    By Retail Dive Team • Nov. 19, 2020
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    Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
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    The Backroom: How retailers are navigating holiday 2020

    As the season kick-starts earlier than ever, the industry braces for a fourth quarter plagued by uncertainty.

    By Retail Dive Staff • Oct. 29, 2020
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    The Backroom: Walmart+ vs. Amazon Prime

    Why did the retail giant launch a membership service, and can it compete with Prime? Senior Reporters Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee break it down.

    By • Sept. 24, 2020