RETHINK RETAIL

This episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast was recorded live at Groceryshop 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 21, 2022. On the mic this week is guest host Jeff Roster, who is joined by Leslie Vesper, Vice President of Brand Marketing at Frito-Lay, to discuss product innovation and trends in CPG, as well as what it means to be consumer-centric in 2022. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. - - - - - - Host: Jeff Roster Produced by Gabriella Bock & Fritz Finlay

In this episode, host James Tenser is joined by Daniel Lundh, founder of Lifvs and Storekey. Launched in 2018, Lifvs is a supermarket startup that has deployed 19 autonomous, shipping container-sized grocery stores throughout Sweden. With reduced staff and overhead costs, the Stockholm-based company supplies fresh food, dairy and produce to small communities where full sized grocery stores have historically struggled to remain profitable. James and Daniel had a candid conversation about the state of grocery in Sweden and how Lifvs is bringing fresh food to remote regions throughout the country, as well as why Lundh believes having an autonomous option will be imperative for brick-and-mortar retailers in the years to come. This episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast was recorded live at Groceryshop 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 19, 2022. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. - - - - - - Host: James Tenser Produced by Gabriella Bock & Fritz Finlay

This episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast was recorded live at Groceryshop 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 20, 2022. In this episode, host Gabriella Bock sits down with Shai Eisenman, founder & CEO of Bubble Skincare. With high quality ingredients and super fun packaging, Bubble is an affordable new skincare line that is capturing the hearts and wallets of Gen Z. Listen as Shai shares her journey to founding the brand as well her philosophy on skincare and the measures Bubble is taking to stand out in a competitive market. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. - - - - - - Host: Gabriella Bock Produced by Gabriella Bock and Fritz Finlay

This episode of the Rethink Retail Podcast was recorded live at Groceryshop 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Guest hosting this episode is Top Retail Influencer and Director of Strategy at CI&T, Melissa Minkow. Joining her is Tim Simmons, SVP and chief product officer at Sam's Club. Melissa and Tim had a candid conversation after Tim's Monday session, where they spoke about accelerating from an innovation standpoint and how Sam's Club is already thinking about the metaverse. About the guest: Tim Simmons is Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Sam’s Club. In this role, he oversees product management, operations transformation, and the user experience across omnichannel commerce, digital in-club experiences, supply chain, merchandising, and more. Tim joined Sam’s Club in 2015 and has worked in various areas of the business including Membership and Marketing, Operations Transformation and In-Club Product Management and Fulfillment before taking on his current role in 2021. About the host: Melissa Minkow is a celebrated RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer and the Director of Retail Strategy at Digital Consultancy CI&T. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. - - - - - - Host: Melissa Minkow Produced by Gabriella Bock & Fritz Finlay

Welcome to “On Becoming a Brand”, a RETHINK Retail exclusive where we dive into the stories that shaped the brands we love — and the people behind them. On today’s episode, host Gabriella Bock hears from from Shawn Nelson, Founder and CEO of Lovesac, a publicly traded, high-end furniture retailer with 160+ showrooms across America. As of recent, the company has experienced 16 consecutive quarters of at least 25 percent net sales growth, and for the quarter ending on May 1, sales jumped 56 percent year over year, to about $129 million. You might also remember Shawn from the 2005 prime-time show “The Rebel Billionaire,” where he outlasted a competitive field of entrepreneurs which included Spanx Founder Sara Blakely, and won a 1-million-dollar investment from Virgin’s Richard Branson. But long before he founded the billion dollar furniture company, Shawn was just your average teenager who thought it would be funny and novel idea to construct a supersized bean bag chair at his childhood home in Utah. And that’s where today’s story begins.

Digital transformation is impacting all of us in the retail industry, and brick-and-mortar is no exception. The in-store experience itself is now called to change in a way perhaps more radical and extensive than any time in modern history. In this episode host Gabriella Bock explores how to create memorable in-store experiences through digital innovation with guests Ryan Taylor and Bobby Marhamat. Ryan is Head of Retail Product Marketing at T-Mobile. He has over 20 years of experience in retail management at the store, district, territory, and geographic levels, implementing high-level changes to drive successful businesses within those sectors, leveraging analytics and the latest innovations to collaboratively enhance operations at hundreds of stores. Bobby is CEO of Raydiant, an in-store customer experience management provider for brick and mortar retailers. He also has over 20 years of experience in the retail industry, having worked at the executive level with tech companies like Verizon, Revel, and Highfive. Bobby is also a contributing member of Forbes Business Development Council, and was recently recognized as a ‘Top 100 Innovation CEO of 2022’ by World Biz Magazine.

In this episode, guest host Venkatesh Shankar sits down with Forerunner Ventures Partner Nicole Johnson to discuss the state of venture capitalism, the trends she's seeing in the DTC and DNVB space, and what she looks for in an executive team when seeking out new potential investments. About the guest: Nicole is a partner at Forerunner Ventures, a leading commerce-focused venture capital firm that supports trailblazing companies like Chime, Dollar Shave Club, Faire, Glossier, Away, Warby Parker, The Yes, Curated, and dozens more. Prior to Forerunner, Nicole worked with SapientNitro, a leading brand and digital strategy consultancy where she supported Fortune 500 retailers on their global retail strategies. Nicole is a graduate of Princeton University and was named one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 in 2016. About the host: Venkatesh (Venky) Shankar is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer, a Professor of Marketing and Coleman Chair in Marketing and Director of Research at the Center for Retailing Studies, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University. Shankar has a Ph.D. in marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and has corporate experience in the areas of marketing and international business development. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast is guest hosted by RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer and "This Week In Innovation" Host Jeff Roster. Over the last few months, George Mason University's Center for Retail Transformation has conducted several panel discussions with industry thought leaders on a myriad of key trends impacting the retail landscape, such as sustainability, the metaverse, frictionless retail and more. To explore these topics further, Jeff is joined by guests Gautham Vadakkepatt and Ricardo Belmar. Ricardo is recognized retail industry thought leader and the Director Partner Marketing at Microsoft. Gautham is an Associate Professor of Marketing and the Director of the Center for Retail Transformation at George Mason University. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

On this episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast, host Gabriella Bock is joined by Jill Feldman, Vice President and General Manager at Kids Foot Locker, to discuss Gen Alpha and what's cool for this year's back to school shopping season. Jill also shares more about the company's recently launched interactive "House of Play" stores, as well how Kids Foot Locker is giving back to local communities with its Remix the Culture campaign. About the brand: Kids Foot Locker is the ultimate one-stop-shop for children’s apparel, footwear, and accessories with locations across the U.S. and globally, including its new interactive House of Play stores that recently opened in Florida and Texas. About the guest: Prior to joining Foot Locker, Jill held leadership positions at retailers such as JCPenney, Famous Footwear, and Crate & Barrel, across marketing, merchandising, e-commerce, and product development. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

On this episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast, host Haixia Yu sits down to talk social commerce, live streaming and the creator economy with guest Sophie Frères. Sophie is the co-founder and CEO of LiSA, a SaaS start-up which offers Live and Social Commerce enterprise solutions for the world’s leading e-retailers, marketplaces and brands such as Marks & Spencer, L’Oréal, AVON USA and many more. Sophie is also a guest lecturer at Columbia University on the topics of social and live commerce. Her company, LiSA is on a mission to help e-retail easily transform into social discovery destinations for their communities and enable seamless cross-platform experiences for the entire ecosystem. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.