Episode Details

Our guest this week is Michelle Poole, President of Crocs. As Crocs celebrates its 20th anniversary we dig into the remarkable growth story behind the increasingly iconic footwear company. We address head-on the polarizing (or is it fundamentally under-estimated?) nature of the brand and how Michelle has turned that to advantage. We also learn about the personalizing power of jibbitz and how product extensions and geographic expansion are fueling their growth. We also delve deep into the diverse, increasingly digitally-driven, go-to-market strategy that is putting the company on a path to hit $5 billion in sales by 2026. Lastly we get Michelle's perspective on how to balance purpose and profits.

But first we take on the news of the week, including earnings from three DTC brands. Lululemon was first out of the gate with continuing strong results. RH also turned in another solid quarter, but their CEO called out concerns about increasing headwinds. Lastly, Chewy continues the trend of "profitless prosperity" for disruptor brands as they reported strong sales and mounting losses. Their co-founder (Ryan Cohen) also gets this week's chutzpah award for pushing big changes at Bed, Bath & Beyond when his company has yet to break-even. We also touch on all the store openings from Five Below and other value retailers and when this music might stop.

Here is the episode with Vuori's CEO Joe Kudla that Michelle mentions.

And don't forget to check out our bonus episode recapping this year's Shoptalk conference, recorded live from high above the Vegas Strip. 

About Michelle

Michelle Poole became President, Crocs, Inc. in September 2020 and has oversight of the Americas, Asia and EMEA regional commercial teams, as well as Product Design and Management, Merchandising, and Marketing teams. Prior to this, she served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Product and Merchandising Officer since April 2020 and as our Senior Vice President and Chief Product and Merchandising Officer since 2014.

In addition to her product and merchandising responsibilities, Ms. Poole assumed responsibility for our Marketing function in 2017. Ms. Poole has more than 28 years of experience and proven success in the development of leading global fashion and lifestyle brands including Sperry Top-Sider, Timberland, Kangol, Converse, MTV Europe and Pepe Jeans where she held a range of marketing, merchandising & product management roles. Since 2018, Ms. Poole has served on the board of Pact, a privately held apparel brand, based in Boulder, CO. She received her Bachelor’s honors degree in fashion marketing from the University of Northumbria, UK.

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       website.    The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book  Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at  Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a      Forbes se