Leadership

How a Retailer-First Approach is Fueling Simon G. Fine Jewelry's Legacy Growth
June 8, 2026 at 3:18 pm

In episode 508 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Zaven "Zee" Ghanimian, CEO, and Brooke Brinkman Ghanimian, chief operating officer of Simon G. Fine Jewelry, a leading fine jewelry brand known for innovation, craftsmanship, and timeless design. Listen in as they share the origin story of the family-owned-and-operated business (0:55), why maintaining quality…

Macy’s Posts Strongest Q1 Growth in 4 Years
June 3, 2026 at 4:44 pm

Macy's posted its strongest fiscal first-quarter comparable sales performance in four years on Wednesday, as the legacy department store’s turnaround continues to show progress. Led by the 200 so-called reimagined stores Macy’s has upgraded, comparable sales grew 3 percent overall during the quarter and 1.6 percent at its namesake banner. At Bloomingdale’s, comparable sales grew…

lululemon Settles Proxy Battle With Founder Chip Wilson
May 27, 2026 at 5:13 pm

lululemon is ending its feud with founder Chip Wilson. The athletic apparel company entered into an agreement with Wilson on Wednesday that ended a messy proxy contest the founder started late last year as its largest individual shareholder. Under terms of the deal, luluelmon has agreed to appoint two of Wilson’s nominees — former On co-CEO…

Activist Investors Urge Removal of Target Board Director and Former CEO
May 19, 2026 at 7:26 pm

A group of activist investors is urging Target shareholders to vote against the re-election of Executive Chair Brian Cornell and Lead Independent Director Christine Leahy at the retailer’s annual shareholder meeting in June, reports Yahoo Finance. Among the reasons cited is Leahy’s oversight of the decision to retain former CEO Cornell as executive chair and…

Why the Next Era of Commerce Media is a Human Challenge
April 29, 2026 at 7:54 am

For years, the conversation around commerce media has been dominated by technology and data. The industry has obsessed over the fixtures, including the API integrations, first-party audiences, closed-loop measurement capabilities, and the algorithmic precision of retail media networks. Yet, as we enter a more complex economic landscape, many organizations are finding that the most sophisticated…

Best Buy CEO Corie Barry to Step Down; Replacement Named
April 22, 2026 at 3:37 pm

Best Buy announced Wednesday that its CEO, Corie Barry, would be replaced by another executive at the consumer electronics retailer, Chief Customer, Product and Fulfillment Officer Jason Bonfig. Bonfig will succeed Barry on Oct. 31, when he will also join the board. Barry will stay on as strategic advisor for six months following Bonfig's appointment.…

Apple Names Successor to CEO Tim Cook
April 20, 2026 at 5:30 pm

Apple said on Monday that John Ternus is succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, with Cook assuming the role of executive chairman on Sept. 1. Ternus, a senior vice president of hardware engineering, will join Apple’s board of directors when he becomes CEO. Apple’s non-executive chairman Arthur Levinson will become the iPhone-maker’s lead independent director on…

You Can't Automate Trust: Why AI Still Needs Human Judgment in Marketing
March 4, 2026 at 9:45 am

Artificial intelligence can identify your target audience in seconds, optimize campaigns in milliseconds, and generate hundreds of creative variations in minutes. Marketing automation has never been more powerful — or more tempting. Yet the marketers winning right now aren't the ones automating everything. They're the ones who know exactly what not to automate. Because while…

Turning Uncertainty Into Opportunity: Modernizing Retail Finance to Navigate Inflation, Interest Rates and Currency Volatility
February 11, 2026 at 9:21 am

While retailers exited the holiday shopping season and planned for the year ahead, their finance leaders have been dealing with interest rate uncertainty, persistent inflation and currency volatility. Combined, these factors have created a variety of financial pressures making it harder to control costs and plan ahead. To combat these challenges, retail finance teams must…

Kroger Names Former Walmart Exec as its New CEO
February 9, 2026 at 3:11 pm

Kroger named former Walmart executive Greg Foran as its chief executive officer on Monday, 11 months after the abrupt resignation of its previous CEO. Foran led Walmart's U.S. division for six years before departing in 2019. While there, he introduced online ordering and pickup, and accelerated Walmart's digital capabilities. Foran succeeds Ron Sargent, who has been…