Episode Details

Richard Armour is a deeply experienced omni-channel retail executive having cut his teeth at Travelocity and Gamestop. Now he is helping drive the digital transformation for Michaels Stores, one of North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, and more for makers and do-it-yourself home decorators. 

We dig deep into the evolution of e-commerce, how the blurring of the lines between digital and physical makes everything harder and how Michael's has been able to accelerate its transformation. We also unpack Richard's provocative statement that "everything is table stakes now" and lean how Michael's plans to build on their momentum going forward by maintaining a "test and learn" culture. 

But first we take on this week's news, including Steve's admonition to "Buckle Up Buttercup" in the face of escalating inflation. Then we discuss Kohl's Investor Day presentation, which seems long on ambition, but short on truly being remarkable. Then we delve into recent earnings reports, which mostly point to the strong getting stronger as e-commerce growth decelerates and the continuing struggles of disruptor brands (Stitch Fix, The Real Retail) to get on a glide path to profitability.
 

***************************************************

To record a question for us go to  speakpipe.com/remarkableretail
 

Kohl's Investor Day Presentation

Steve's recent Forbes articles related to our news segment 

Is Kohl’s New Strategy Merely A Slightly Better Version Of Mediocre?
 

The Profitless Prosperity of Disruptor Brands
 

The Stores Strike Back Again. Again.
 

Past podcast episodes referenced

Why Does It Take A Crisis For Retailers To Innovate?

War Comes to the Global Food Supply Chain

About Richard Armour

Richard Armour is SVP, Ecommerce at Michaels, responsible for all aspects of the ecommerce business, including revenue accountability, content strategy, search engine optimization, product management, analytics & more. His focus is on reducing friction across the digital ecosystem to create a seamless omnichannel experience.

Prior to Michaels, Richard was Vice President, Omnichannel for GameStop where he was responsible for the GameStop.com business and accelerating ecommerce growth and integrating the site and store experience.  He led several initiatives including the ecommerce redesign and replatform as well as launching an online advertising platform and program. 

Richard holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas and an MBA in Marketing and Information Systems from Indiana University. He is also a board member with James Avery.

About Us

Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his       <