Professional Development

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 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…

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…

Retail has always been a human-centered business. Every sale, return, upsell and resolution depends on an employee’s ability to read emotion, respond appropriately, and guide a customer through an experience that feels both personal and efficient. As customer expectations rise, competitive advantage in retail is no longer defined by operational efficiency alone, but by how…

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 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 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…

In episode 503 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Marianna Sachse, founder and CEO of Jackalo, the first circular childrenswear brand focused on creating durable, eco-friendly apparel. Sachse describes her inspiration for founding the brand — a difficulty finding comfortable, sustainable, long-lasting pants and hand-me-downs for kids four and older (2:00). She details…

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…

Seasonal spikes have long been a feature, not a bug, of running a modern retail business. In the U.S., sales in November and December average about a fifth of the year's total. With holiday sales in 2025 alone expected to exceed $1 trillion, hiring plans must sync accordingly. But it’s about more today than simply…