Preston Chisolm

Recommendations like this have a tendency of making YOU remember WHO you are and WHAT you stand for! Thank you so much Austin! Austin Akers- I am so incredibly lucky to have worked under Dillan as I began my career on Samsungs Retail Training Team in 2022. He was the national manager of training delivery, leading the Regional Trainers and National Mobile Computing/Events training teams. Dillans facilitation skills are inspirational. Naturally working the crowd, pulling authentic engagement from the audience while clearly and effectively communicating any given message. His ability to internalize a topic and break it down step-by-step to learners, in terms they will understand, proved to be highly effective and drove strong topic retention. I cannot say enough about his coaching style and ability to successfully manage a team. Truly going above and beyond, consistently putting his team first. Ensuring each of us had all of the pre-delivery support we needed, as well as setting up post-delivery touch bases to watch recordings of ourselves play-by-play style in an effort to provide coaching and feedback of our facilitation skills. I wouldn't be the facilitator I am today without the coaching and guidance of Dillan Durbin. This extraordinary LEADER (bosses boss their teams, managers manage them, but leaders LEAD them to new heights) leads by example via his own inspirational/authentic training delivery, full proof project management, and intentional coaching methods. You can count on Dillan to put his heart/team first, ensure his team is prepared to meet any given session prepared to drive the companies priorities/key performance metrics through impactful delivery, thoughtful coaching delivery and engaging facilitation methods that foster realistic/positive learner behavior enhancements. Dillan pushed the Samsung Retail Training Team to greatness everyday and believed in each of us to meet the moment and effectively deliver. I will never forget what he taught me and the way he made me feel. He makes a true difference in the lives he touches, any company would be lucky to land his skills and talent on their team.

21

2 Comments

Are you trying to promote diversity and inclusion in your workplace? Well, you better make sure you're focusing on these two things:

34

1 Comment

Body worn cameras in Retail made the headlines this week. Retailers are enhancing security measures by equipping employees with body cameras to curb theft. This proactive step aims to protect both staff and customers, addressing the significant challenge of theft in the retail sector. Innovative solutions like this can make a substantial difference. It's encouraging to see retailers exploring innovative approaches to stay proactive. #RetailSecurity #Innovation #BodyCameras #LossPrevention #RetailNews Check out more details here: https://lnkd.in/eFrXPCuh

23

2 Comments

As a lifelong retail merchant, I'm going to potentially have a stroke if the retail media continues to report sequential month-over-month results as an indicator of anything. Year-over-year results are indicative of true performance, with the caveat of a shift in a key seasonal event like...I don't know, perhaps Easter...that will impact the natural trends in consumer purchase behavior. In good news, inflation appears to continue to be cooling...good news unless you are trying to convince your buyer that a price increase you took previously should not now be reversed. Good luck with that, by the way... #retailmerchandising #retailsales #inflation

38

5 Comments

In our whitepaper, "Redefining Retail: Crafting Your Journey Towards a Perfect Store Strategy," brands learn how to: - Evaluate perfect store success potential - Build a picture of success - Implement a scorecard system  - Create a field rep workflow and store tracker Download here: https://lnkd.in/eMAs5FNu

7

I have never met Mr. Rosen but he seems to be an exceptional person, visionary, leader and results driven. Taking a historic brand and moving it forward step-by-step in a measured, intelligent, customer and brand/product oriented way. I mean this in the best possible way - it’s like he is a hybrid of old school best practices/training and applying that in a new and relevant way to change today and create a relevant brand that almost disappeared. To actually say that JC Penney does have a bright future is really mind blowing. #JCPENNEY #RETAIL #TURNAROUND #STRATEGIC #TEAMWORK

2

Check out this YouTube video presentation on the premium 2024 TVs! Reviewing LG G4 vs S95D QN900D A95L Processing, Gaming, Sports & More:

3

A balance is critical to the success of the brand… discovering that the path to better margins lies in wholesale rather than direct-to-consumer (DTC) models 👏🏻 #BusinessGrowth #WholesaleSuccess #RetailStrategy"

4

As independent retailers navigate a challenging macro-economic environment, it’s never been more important to efficiently put resources to work that drive traffic into store and convert at shelf. If you could use a partner to help you navigate these challenging times, know that True Value Company is Here for You.

86

“Costco Wholesale Corp. turned in another strong quarter with earnings, revenue and same-store sales that beat Wall Street expectations amid gains in traffic and discretionary purchases.” “”As inflation has leveled off, our members are returning to purchasing more discretionary items,” CFO Gary Millerchip told analysts on the company’s earnings call. “And growth in the category was led by toys, tires, lawn and garden, and health and beauty aids.”” “Total revenue rose to $58.515 billion from $53.648 billion, topping estimates of $58.02 billion. Net sales rose 9.1% to $57.39 billion. Membership fees rose 7.6% to $1.12 billion.” “Total comparable sales rose 6.6%, more than expected. U.S. same-store sales increased 6.2%, with traffic up 5.5% and the comparable ticket up 0.7%.” “E-commerce sales soared 20.7%, led by gold and silver bullion, gift cards and appliances. Costco ended the quarter with 74.5 million paid members, up 7.8% from a year ago.” - Marianne Wilson

14

Happy Fri-YAY! Top #Retail stores of the week #IMO that you may have missed (in no particular order): Fitchy…#Abercrombie&Fitch reported its best quarterly sales ever, topping $1B a 22.1% increase over LY. These results, which include Hollister, outpoaced the balance of the apparel retailers. They also said they’ve raised their full year estimates to 10%. Sporty…#Dick’sSportingGoods had a great Q1 with over $3B in sales, a 6.2% increase over LY. They also raised their annual outlook for comp sales to 2 to 3%. Is the growth of pickleball driving a splurge on the goods? Kohlsy…#Kohl’s did not fair as well in Q1 reporting that sales fell 5.3% versus LY. They also lowered their guidance for the full year to a 1 to 2% comp sales loss. Oily…Oil companies continue to buy up others to expand their reach for gas customers. M&A deals in 2023 were $250B and this year so far, the trend has continued with $51B in deals being made in Q1. The most recent is #ConocoPhillips agreeing to buy #MarathonOil ($17B).  Also, this week the board of #Hess agreed to be acquired by #Chevron ($53B). Pricy…Add #Walgreens to the list of retailers slashing prices to lure inflation fatigued consumers back to their stores. They announced cuts on 1.5K items. Dolla…#DollarGeneral beat expectations for Q1 and will ramp up store remodels. Net sales rose 6.1% to $9.91B, topping estimates of $9.89B. Same store sales increased 2.4%. “These results were driven by strong customer traffic growth and market share gains during the quarter, which we believe is a testament to the relevance of our unique combination of value and convenience, as well as to improved execution across our organization,” said Todd Vasos, CEO of Dollar General. They now plan to open 730 new stores, down from their previous expectation of 800. Remodel approx. 1,620 stores, up from its prior forecast of 1,500. As of May 3, 2024 they operated 20,149 stores across the US and Mexico. When one door closes…#DollarTree announced it has purchased the leases for 170 closed #99CentsOnly stores in Arizona, California, Texas, and Nevada. They will reopen as Dollar Tree stores. Also announced was confirmation that approx. 50 corporate employees were laid off. Shakeup…#Petco announced changes to their leadership team. Mike Mohan, who was appointed interim CEO of Petco in March. "Across the business, we are streamlining the organization to empower faster and more effective implementation of best practices on the path to restoring our profitability." So why was I intrigued enough by these changes to mention them…well…Mohan, an ex-Best Buy exec, impacted 2 other former #BestBuy execs…COO (and former co-worker of mine) Justin Tichy and Chief Merchant Amy College, who will leave while 5 others get expanded executive leadership roles. Things that make you go hmmmm…

12

1 Comment

For most of my career, I was the only woman at the table. When I was pregnant with my first child, I met with the leaders at my company. And I was gobsmacked. It turns out they didn't even have a maternity leave policy. So I ended up writing my own policy. I learned that if I wanted to create change, I had to do it myself. Comment below: How have you handled inequity in your career?

70

2 Comments

With Ulta Beauty earnings report out and not as robust as we have seen from them in previous quarters, it is important to take in the full story. Ulta has done an amazing job continuing to build its loyalty program and provide exceptional innovation across both mass and prestige. Their challenge is a very dynamic market where the retailer landscape continues to become more competitive as we see both more retailers and points of distribution, a blurring of the lines between mass and prestige (previously space that was primarily owned by Ulta) and an acceleration of the digital/online business overall with brands making a much greater investment in driving their own DTC allowing them to own the relationship with the end consumer. While looking at Ulta performance in isolation this may seem to be a challenge, for the industry we should all be excited and driven by the fact that the beauty industry remains incredibly healthy and resilient - the pie continues to grow, how it gets split out is where we are seeing the greatest impact.

31

In this new survey-driven report, learn how fashion and beauty brands use a unified e-commerce model to create a frictionless customer experience. Sponsored by BigCommerce.

5

As a GOOD AMERICAN customer, I can’t wait to experience the store. 👖As a former merchant, having a digital option to showcase styling, fit and product knowledge would have given me the confidence that my merchandising strategy was being executed in the store without having to physically be on location. 📺This is a great way to make sure teams are product obsessed with the constant graphics and that the visual merchandising / styling options are being showcased at the store. 🛍️To make sure this extension of digital is a success, Good American would need to keep the content fresh and consistent with real time inventory and reflective of the current product assortment. Sales associates would still need to be product obsessed but they would also need to show customers what is possible with the digital screens. The experience should augment and assist the sales associate and not be considered a replacement of staff. 🔹The excitement of finding a product on the screen, loving the look and being disappointed if the item or the size is not available could also drive customers away. GA would need to be on top of their inventory position and have a good handle of managing their inventory across all channels. 🗞️Check out more #BrainTrust comments on RetailWire: https://lnkd.in/eDJp--GF #retail #retailnews #goodamerican #cx #stores #merchandising #TRE #TopRetailExpert

23

Thank you Stacie, and the AVB team, for posting my article. A quick read with five important bullet points designed to increase your revenue,

8

What's the headline from recent retail earnings transcripts from Walmart, DICK'S Sporting Goods, The TJX Companies, Inc., and more? Value wins. The macroeconomic environment played a role in crowning the season’s winners. Value is top of mind for consumers as they look to stretch their budgets. Read on below for more insights: https://lnkd.in/gCvZghbY

11

2 Comments