Podcast
The Backroom with Retail Dive
What you read on Retail Dive is only part of the story. Our reporters and editors are constantly researching, reading and talking about the retail industry. Here’s a peek behind the curtain to what we are discussing in our newsroom. Welcome to the Backroom. Stay tuned for more episodes by following us on iTunes or on Stitcher.
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Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: How the consumer is doing so far this year
Discretionary goods are a low priority amid an uncertain economy and a desire to spend on experiences, but retailers are holding their own. What about the rest of 2023?
By Retail Dive Staff • May 25, 2023 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Why is Walmart selling off so many DTC brands?
The retailer bought, and sold off, several digital natives including Bonobos and Eloquii. The team discusses what this signals about the company's game plan.
By Retail Dive Staff • April 27, 2023 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Unearthing financial details about J.C. Penney
The team talks about the treasure trove of information on the department store’s financial health, found thanks to a tip from one of its new owners.
By Retail Dive Staff • March 30, 2023 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: What the ‘MetaBirkin’ NFT verdict means for art and commerce
The team chats about how Hermès' legal win impacts retail at large, and why Mason Rothschild plans to appeal.
By Retail Dive Staff • Feb. 23, 2023 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: What’s going on with DTC this year?
The team introduces new co-host Dani James and talks about changes in the direct-to-consumer space and the ongoing importance of brick and mortar.
By Retail Dive Staff • Jan. 26, 2023 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Ushering in the new year with Doug Stephens
What retailers should know about the realities of the metaverse and more futuristic observations from the retail prophet.
By Retail Dive Staff • Dec. 29, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: What holiday looks like from here
The team sits down to discuss what recent events suggest about this year's unpredictable shopping season.
By Retail Dive Staff • Nov. 24, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Retail bankruptcies are poised for a comeback
What can we learn about the industry as a whole by looking at its weakest players?
By Retail Dive Staff • Oct. 27, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: The idiosyncrasies of this year’s holiday consumer
Retailers are navigating a challenge likely to define the 2022 season: inflation.
By Retail Dive Staff • Sept. 29, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: The remains of Sears
Senior Reporter Ben Unglesbee discusses his recent trip to one of the few remaining Sears department stores in the country.
By Retail Dive Staff • Aug. 25, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Planet retail
Retailers know they have an important role in addressing climate change. But navigating sustainability is riddled with challenges.
By Retail Dive Staff • July 28, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Enjoy Technology set out to disrupt retail. But it got disrupted instead.
Led by former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson, the now-bankrupt “commerce-at-home” company has suffered from constrained supply and high costs.
By Retail Dive Staff • June 30, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: What Walmart and Target tell us about the state of retail in 2022
Rising food and gas prices are causing consumers to pull back on discretionary spending. That hurt retailers in the first quarter.
By Retail Dive Staff • May 26, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: What's going on at Amazon?
The e-commerce giant is grappling with many challenges, including union efforts and its Prime delivery promises.
By Retail Dive Staff • April 28, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: The world according to AlixPartners' Joel Bines
The consultant has spent decades working in and for the retail industry. We sat down with him to get his take on where the industry is headed.
By Retail Dive Staff • March 31, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Kohl's vs. Wall Street
Activist investors have pressured the retailer to divest assets and potentially even sell itself. Retail Dive reporters discuss the implications of such moves.
By Retail Dive Staff • Feb. 24, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: The surprising importance of the retail middleman, with BMO Capital Markets' Simeon Siegel
The last two decades of retail disruption were supposed to mean the death of wholesale. Recent research shows that brands should think twice about that.
By Retail Dive Staff • Jan. 27, 2022 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Our traditional interview with the retail prophet, Doug Stephens
While the pandemic isn't over, 2021 seemed to show that physical locations remain important to retail. But each store must have something to offer.
By Daphne Howland • Dec. 30, 2021 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Another disruptive holiday season
Vaccines have changed the shopping landscape this year, as have supply chain bottlenecks. Retail Dive reporters look at how the season is playing out.
By Retail Dive Staff • Nov. 25, 2021 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Why is the idea of splitting off e-commerce so popular all of a sudden?
Senior Reporters Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee discuss why Wall Street likes it, why others don't and how Sears' decline serves as a cautionary tale.
By Retail Dive Staff • Oct. 28, 2021 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: What do changes at Stitch Fix say about e-commerce?
Senior Reporters Ben Unglesbee and Daphne Howland talk about turmoil at the apparel e-retailer, DTC companies and online sales in general.
By Retail Dive Team • Sept. 30, 2021 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: Delta's looming impact on retail
On this episode, Daphne Howland and Ben Unglesbee discuss the implications of the new variant on the industry.
By Retail Dive Team • Aug. 26, 2021 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: When Reebok was on top of the world
Retail Dive's senior editor discusses the past and alternate histories of the brand that once topped even Nike.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 29, 2021 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: In e-commerce, it's growth versus profits
In 2020, digital operations saved retailers when consumers couldn't or wouldn't visit stores. But how sustainable is online retail in the long run?
By Daphne Howland • June 24, 2021 -
Kendall Davis/Retail Dive
The Backroom: A former Blockbuster insider chronicles its many blunders
If you think Blockbuster is merely a story about technology, take a second look. Former franchisee Alan Payne discusses its long-deteriorating operations.
By Ben Unglesbee • May 27, 2021
