Retail's recession prep
Is there a recession on the horizon? Some signs point to yes. We’ll take a closer look at the retail hiring slowdown and job losses, as well as the not-so-micro movement known as the Economic Blackout. From inflation-proof pizzas to robotic baristas, there’s plenty of retail news to chew on this week. Plus, we sit down with Hero Shop owner Emily Holt to get her take on how specialty retailers are selling services, not commodities.
'We're selling the service of making our clients' lives easier'
San Francisco native Emily Holt opened Hero Shop, a women's luxury store specializing in emerging and independent designers, in 2016 after hearing for years that the Bay Area lacked style and never being able to find in local stores the labels she was writing about as an editor at Women's Wear Daily, W and Vogue.
“I opened it because in my heart of hearts I love stores. It's what led me to a career writing about fashion, but after 12 years in publishing, I was ready for a life change,” she says.
Here, she shares what she’s learned after moving Hero Shop from the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood to Marin Country Mart in Larkspur, Calif. and weathering the pandemic. –Marcy Medina
What are your top 3 actionable tips for SMB retailers?
Nurture relationships. This applies to clients and vendors. Were it not for connections I'd made with clients prior to the pandemic, Hero Shop wouldn't have survived. Our clients wanted to see us stay in business and chose to support us. And with vendors, especially if you end up in a tough spot, you want to already be in good standing with them so that they can partner with you toward success. If you can, pay them on time. It amazes me when I hear about stores (small and massive) not paying vendors.
Sell a service. At Hero Shop, we're not selling commodities. We're selling the service of making our clients' lives easier. That starts with helping them navigate what to wear for work, a trip, an event, but it can extend to suggesting and making dinner reservations for them, recommending a show, store or point of interest here or anywhere they're traveling, connecting them with people who may help them find a landscaper or a job, even shipping their Amazon returns.
Be there. Your clients have a lot of options when it comes to where to spend their money; they'll want to support you specifically, so be on-site to visit with them and show them that you care about the business.
How do you build community with and within your store?
It starts with being nice so that people want to come in and see the team and being flexible and reasonable with clients. From there, we often introduce clients to each other if they're in store at the same time. The store itself builds community through our social media and newsletter. The voice is individual and grounded in reality, so that if there's something unavoidable culturally, we'll address it in our messaging. We also communicate our interest in areas other than fashion, including politics, art, philanthropy, food and sports. I think of it like a magazine, focusing on fashion but covering other things that are important to us or that we think are worth spotlighting.
What are the top currently trending or soon-to-be-trending items you are selling? High Sport kick pants in any color or pattern, The Row's Hugo slide, Juju Vera's metal shell pendant.
Retail hiring slows as job losses grow
When the economy is bad, retail sales slow, stores close and shoppers stay home. It's a tale as old as capitalism, but is still hard to live through. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday shows that the retail sector lost 6,000 jobs in February, versus the previous month’s upward trend. Hiring has been flat to declining, depending on the survey. And many full-time job seekers are instead stringing together multiple part-time retail jobs to stay afloat.
Why this matters: While most retailers are still struggling to navigate e-commerce, inflation and steep interest rates, policy uncertainty has also caused distress, and can be felt by smaller businesses more sharply. (NBC News)
Feb. 28 “Economic Blackout” hurt retailers, more planned
As the first collective economic action of its kind, the so-called Economic Blackout—a grassroots effort where working-class consumers boycott retailers that don’t align with their views on DEI—did affect behemoth companies like Target, Walmart, Starbucks and Amazon. Data from the one-day event on Feb. 28 showed a dip in web traffic and foot traffic. Now, more events are planned for March and April, targeting Amazon and Walmart again, along with Nestle.
Why this matters: The common man can make a difference, and shoppers can vote with their wallets. In a time of widespread opposition to the current administration, it is one way to fight back alongside protests, labor actions, lobbying and electoral work. (Peoples World)
Bad bathrooms can flush your sales down the toilet
CVS prescribes pharmacy-forward locations
Anthropologie, Universal Standard tie-up for all sizes
Dominos, the inflation-proof pizza
GenAI replacing search engines with shoppers
Why one retail founder sold her company to branch out
Ali Kriegsman, who founded the B2B retail marketplace Bulletin in 2018, sat down with Forbes to discuss why she decided to sell the company to pursue other ventures. Kriegsman, who made Forbes' 30 Under 30 list the year she founded he company, talks about the growing pains at Bulletin and how working through them strengthened her as a leader and eventually gave her the confidence to step out of her comfort zone into writing books and advising other entrepreneurs.
“Life is a game. You can change the character that you are playing or the costume you are wearing at any time. Just because you've been Ali the entrepreneur for 10 years doesn't mean you can't become Ali the fiction writer." - Ali Kriegsman, entrepreneur, author and consultant
Why this matters: Early entrepreneurial success can fuel and fund your next dream, but it doesn't have to be on such a large scale. The more risks you take, especially those that pay off, the less scary it becomes to make changes. Watch Ali's interview here.
Are robot baristas the future of retail?
Recently, Las Vegas-based Richtech Robotics opened Clouffee & Tea, a coffee shop at the Town Square shopping center that features a robot barista named Adam. Cute and round and white, much like Disney Pixar's WALL-E or Star Wars' R2D2, Adam can make your java shot faster, and over and over again without asking to go on a break. While this is still in beta mode, so to speak, other food service retailers could all have an Adam in the near future.
Why this matters: While the use case here is in the food services industry, the concept can be applied to other retail categories where repetitive actions can be automated, freeing up humans to focus on relationship-building and managing. (Modern Retail)
What we are replaying: Valentino’s runway show staged in a make-believe public bathroom was interesting on a lot of levels, not just the clothes.
What we are reading: These seven London Book Fair books could be the next box-office hits.
What we are following: Parker Posey’s GAP ads are as infectious as all the other ones have been for the comeback clothing chain.
Thanks for reading this week's edition!
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The SKUpe is curated and written by Marcy Medina and edited by Bianca Prieto
