The Retail Focus Podcast

Genesco, the company behind mall staples Journeys and Lids, releases sales updates for the holiday shopping season—some positive, some negative. Additionally, we discuss earnings for eBay and a potential brick-and-mortar expansion by Warby Parker.  Our interview guests are Kylee Leonetti and Christian Jensen, the producers of a documentary detailing the final ten days of an Alco store in South Dakota.

After hand-wringing about potential store closures, JC Penney surprises many by announcing a new in-store partnership with Nike.  Additionally, Target and Tuesday Morning announce executive shuffling, Limited enters Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and a new study finds that e-commerce retailers experienced lower margins in 2016 compared with the prior year.

After growing through acquisition over the last five years, western wear retailer Boot Barn spies future areas for growth in their latest presentation.  We discuss changes Aeropostale is making as they re-open over 500 stores and prep for a new ad campaign.  Also, we talk disappointing earnings from grocer Supervalu, expansion at Sportsman’s Warehouse, and changes at Walmart.

Sears Holdings hits the news twice this week with more store closures and more money coming from ESL Investments.  Also, we discuss a study that potentially foreshadows a better-than-expected sales season for mall retailers, and look back at the retailers declaring bankruptcy in 2016 and what we can glean from their cautionary tales.