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Traditional fashion and automotive industries are wedded to a leather supply chain that requires 20 toxic processing steps and plastic coatings, while they simultaneously claim environmental leadership. The uncomfortable reality executives don’t acknowledge is that traditional leather production isn't just environmentally destructive—it's becoming economically obsolete. Join Shelley and Stephanie Downs, a biomaterials pioneer and CEO of Uncaged, as they have an honest conversation about how fashion executives who use natural leather are caught between mounting environmental pressure to change and legacy suppliers who resist touching alternative materials. Brands are being forced to choose between tradition and transformation. Meanwhile, major automotive brands including Jaguar and Land Rover are already piloting leather alternatives, responding to reputational risk from environmentally conscious consumers. To strengthen public awareness of leather alternatives, Uncaged just announced a new partnership with Oscar winning actress Natalie Portman who is a longtime vegan activist.

Special Guest: Stephanie Downs, CEO, Uncaged Innovations

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Full disclosure: Don’t ever underestimate the power of weather and its impact on retail. There is no other external driver that influences the consumer as frequently, meaningfully, and continuously as the weather. In fact, it influences more than a trillion dollars in retail sales on an annual basis. Join Shelley and Evan Gold of Planalytics as they discuss the fact that the weather is more volatile now than it ever has been before with extreme weather events occurring in the U.S. every three weeks. Evan explains that retailers need to proactively plan with demand forecast accuracy that can increase overall profitability up to 30 percent. Smart retailers incorporate weather analytics into their planning, so they are more weather aware and proactive instead of being reactive with flexible strategies in place as simple as putting weather-driven items in more prominent locations and ensuring the right staffing levels. The holiday selling season is subject to the weather since many retailers do 20% or even more of their annual sales in the month of December. Evan says the good news is that the first few weeks of December in the U.S. are going to continue with persistent, cold temperatures that are going to keep customers in that winter holiday mindset. Listen and learn why weather's a very emotional topic and when retailers can get all functions of their business on the same page by proactively strategizing weather’s complex nature, the outcome is more profitable. 

Special Guest: Evan Gold, EVP, Global Partnerships & Alliances, Planalytics

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Sometimes it takes tenacity combined with fearless confidence to launch a retail brand. That’s how Hulken achieved what most brands consider impossible: Pitching Target in June and landing their rolling totes on the shelves by November. Join Shelley and Hulken co-founder Alex Schinasi to learn why the most successful omnichannel strategies aren't about being everywhere, but about identifying the few channels significant enough to actually move the needle on revenue. Alex shares how a lean team of six full-time employees operates with surgical precision, why they spent two years perfecting the product before spending a dime on marketing, and how their industrial packaging background created a competitive moat that fashion-forward competitors can't replicate in Hulken’s popular rolling totes. One key lesson for D2C brands? The shift from 95 percent direct-to-consumer selling to physical retail-focused growth requires brands to make sure that the margins and distribution can support the scaled business model. Alex shares that selecting the right retail partners is essential for D2C brands to scale by navigating complex vendor requirements and operational standards.

Special Guest: Alex Schinasi, co-founder, Hulken

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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A look back at retail 2025 reveals that consumer behavior volatility has reached unprecedented levels, with shopping patterns shifting hour-to-hour rather than seasonally. Most C-suite leaders are woefully unprepared to handle this level of velocity. Join Shelley and RJ Hottovy from Placer.ai as they discuss a range of consequential retail shifts. Holiday promotions now start in September as retailers panic to lock in sales before consumer confidence erodes. Mobile commerce will capture 56.5 percent of ecommerce sales, fundamentally altering the role of physical stores. AI's real retail impact isn't chatbots—it's transforming in-store sales associates into product experts. And an anticipated $1 trillion holiday season arrives as retailers face flattish foot traffic but rising online fulfillment center visits. They also weigh in on leadership succession at Walmart. Incoming CEO John Furner faces opportunities to scale Walmart’s retail media business; attract more younger millennials and Gen Z families, not just traditional bulk buyers; and serve higher-income consumers who are increasingly shopping at Walmart. Listen and learn how 2025 will preview another unpredictable retail year.

Special Guest: R.J. Hottovy, Head of Analytical Research, Placer.ai

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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The retail frontline sales staff is often an untapped, but highly valuable resource.  Everyone wants to know that they matter and can make a difference. So, how do retailers empower their store associates, their most critical customer-facing ambassadors? In an increasingly tech-driven business, new digital tools are designed to create lasting customer relationships that match loyalty with employee job satisfaction. This is especially powerful in small retail businesses where personal loyalty is the gateway to beating the competition. Join Leigh Sevin, co-founder of Endear, and Shelley as they discuss how modern CRM platforms transform data into authentic customer connection. They explore how AI in partnership with employees can enhance personal outreach and make a brand relevant and meaningful. They also discuss the future of personalization that pairs the message with the individual, informed by sales associates who know their customers best. Their conversation reveals how software, analytics and data can propel a retail business through the insights of its frontline sales ambassadors. Learn from this actionable discussion how tech empowers and inspires store associates to level up service, play a more positive strategic role, and find renewed purpose by using AI to make their jobs easier and strengthen their customer relationships. 

Special Guest: Leigh Sevin, Co-Founder of Endear

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Here’s a stark warning for beauty executives: Brands that cling to traditional manufacturing models are already obsolete—they just don't know it yet. The challenges facing beauty CMOs are hitting critical mass: It's not just driving growth, it’s how to get to market at the speed of culture shifts and keep up digitally and socially. Lauren Thermos is General Manager of Atelier, an Australian product innovation studio dedicated to bringing new products to market faster and better, and a self-described disrupter. Join Lauren and Shelley as they reveal the weak spots of a trendy business where many beauty brands are off trend out of the gate to meet the demands of savvy customers. They discuss the antiquated 18-to-36-month product development cycle, agentic AI (Chat GPT) marketing that shrinks the time between researching and making a decision to buy and will eliminate the need for traditional advertising; and the rise of TikTok as the marketing and product launch platform of choice for young consumers. They also pull back the curtain on why fast-tracked indie creators and celebrity-founded beauty brands are eclipsing many traditional beauty behemoths. Listen in on this provocative conversation about the next frontier of the beauty business.

Special Guest: Lauren Thermos, General Manager at Atelier

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Big brands in the food industry face a double-edged challenge: Make snacks healthy and deliver duller colors and unfamiliar tastes. Eliminating dyes and reducing preservatives and sugar are consumer demands that are forcing food manufacturers to reformulate decades-old products that those consumers have developed taste preferences for. Join Shelley and Misty Skolnick, Co-owner of Uncle Jerry’s Pretzels as they discuss how this company in rural Pennsylvania has been producing handmade, 100% natural pretzels as healthy snack options for decades. The conversation covers more than commercial food trends; it explores the challenge from consumers who demand product transparency certification that is resulting in reformulating products that transform familiar food tastes in deference to healthy ingredients. Will this movement collapse when visual appeal and familiar flavors disappear from well-loved products? The food industry is facing an existential crisis balancing wellbeing with familiarity. Unlike food giants scrambling to re-engineer their formulations at scale, smaller producer Uncle Jerry’s Pretzels figured this out 40 years ago.

Special Guest: Misty Skolnick, Co-Owner of Uncle Jerry's Pretzels

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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In a wide-ranging conversation, Shelley and Tom McGee, president and CEO of ICSC, discuss a mix of consumer trends that will impact holiday spending. It might surprise you to know that Gen X controls 33 percent of all spending (although only 19 percent of the U.S. population); so why are retailers still ignoring them? There’s $1.4 trillion wealth transfer to this generation that nobody's talking about. Overall, consumers are resilient but cautious, price-sensitive and selective, focusing on value and budgeting more carefully making discount retailers the beneficiaries. Next, while tariffs haven’t dramatically increased prices yet, the real impact has been on consumer mindset and timing — people buy earlier, avoid waiting for discounts, and are cautious about overspending. Gift cards are increasingly popular as practical, budget-friendly gifts that also appeal to younger, sustainability-minded generations. In terms of retail development, there’s a supply-demand mismatch in retail real estate. There’s a strong retailer demand for well-located suburban spaces, but they are facing limited new construction. Retail sales have risen about 82 percent since 2009, but physical retail space has only grown 7 percent. Tom reinforces not to rule put physical stores; they remain critical for browsing and as fulfillment centers. Listen and learn about how this confluence of trends results in a mixed prediction for holiday.

Special Guest: Tom McGee, President and CEO, ICSC

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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When you are an architect who works on projects around the world, your perspective about American retail changes through a refined filter. Kevin Roche, Founder of Roche Design Strategy, has the advantage of understanding firsthand the power of Return on Experience (ROE). He believes traditional retailers face an uncomfortable truth: Legacy KPIs are measuring the wrong things entirely. The most successful retail destinations have quietly augmented traditional metrics with something more elusive: ROE. Join Shelley and Kevin as they discuss innovators like Le Bon Marché (a TRR Retail Radical) that invests half a million euros in evening concerts with no direct sales conversion tracking. Dior's Paris flagship operates a museum with paid admission. And Restoration Hardware (another Retail Radical) builds luxury hotels and operates yachts. These are calculated investments that require a decade or more to mature funded by patient capital. They explore the fundamental question confronting retailers: Are they in the hospitality and entertainment business or the transaction business?  The stores winning today don't sell products—they orchestrate experiences so compelling that customers join the brand rather than simply buy from it. Yet most retail boards remain trapped in short-term thinking, unable to make the courageous leap toward investments that won't show ROI or ROE for years.

Special Guest: Kevin Roche Founder, Roche Design Strategy

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Modern leadership often confuses constant availability with maximum impact. It veers off course when it ignores intuition in favor of data. Join Shelley and Melissa Gonzalez, Principal and founder of MG2 in a conversation about her new book, The Purpose Pivot, which explores why understanding your genuine zone of impact requires ruthlessly eliminating everything without purpose. They discuss how most executives spend their days trapped in meetings that deplete rather than energize them, mistaking a full calendar for productivity. Melissa describes how important it is to recognize your intuition as unfiltered market intelligence about misalignment between your role and your actual competitive advantage. She adds, the leaders who will dominate the next decade won't be those who power through everything, but those who know how to focus on their impact and precisely when to tap out.

Special Guest: Melissa Golzalez, Principal and founder of MG2 and author of The Purpose Pivot

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.