S5 Ep 2 | LOYALTY with Mark Gardiner

Retail Done Right™ tells its own horror story, and goes somewhere new: the problem. In Part 1, Cristene and Jeff examine the dollar store category, led by Dollar General, through one word: betrayal. Fact by fact, they cover thin store staffing, failed price inspections, safety violations, and what regulators in Pennsylvania, New York and Washington have ordered. Every fix comes back to labor. In Part 2, they ask whether it has to be this way. Drawing on MIT's Zeynep Ton and examples from Costco, Walmart and SNAP produce-matching programs, they lay out the choices a retailer could make instead: better pay, real learning, and help at the register that doesn't feel like help. Plus 15 things to do with lentils. The customer is the center of retail, and so are the people who serve them.Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

Thrifting isn’t about nostalgia, charity or sustainability guilt. It’s about curiosity, and the sense of triumph when the hunt pays off. In Episode 4 of Season 5, dedicated thrifters Kim and Donna take us from the 50-cent bin to a thrifted ball gown in Vienna, and Courtney walks us through Bangkok’s Chatuchak market, where bargaining is an art. Professor Scott Rick of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, author of Tightwads and Spendthrifts, explains the pain of paying. He also tells us why a thrift receipt is the one people brag about, and why the thrift store may be the most dangerous aisle in America for a spendthrift.Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

 If craft is having a heyday, and the numbers confirm it is, why did the store built to serve makers go bankrupt twice in one year? The craft store died, but the making didn’t. In fact, one of our featured voices in the opener notes that she mourns the loss - delivered by her unprompted. There really wasn't - and still isn’t - anything like it for some guests. We explore this with Chris DiTullio, former Chief Commercial Officer and interim CEO of Joann’s. We explore making, craft, grief and recovery. Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

Episode 2 of Season 5 argues that Trader Joe’s built the most durable loyalty in American grocery retail by doing the opposite of what every retail loyalty playbook prescribes. Our thesis: they didn’t design a loyalty program. They designed a place that generates belonging. And belonging is what loyalty programs are trying to buy but cannot. Our special guest, Mark Gardiner, author of Build a Brand Like Trader Joe’s, joins us to share insights from the inside on how a brand this strong was built without advertising. Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

Guests include Randi Howard, Tim Howard, and Tonya Welker Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

The people who shape this approach for both of us are not retail analysts. They are people who talk about store experiences and who feel those emotions quite personally. As Simon Sinek said, people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. and I love it, but we take Simon Sinek seriously this season. That's a lot of S's. Every episode begins with the why and works outward because the why is what people actually carry with them long after the episode ends. Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

In a follow up to our final Retail Trend, Retail Media Networks, we share a rich conversation with Francisco Larrain, CTO at Topsort, an innovative tech company that enables retailers and marketplaces to quickly launch, scale and intelligently optimize ad businesses with AI-based retail media infrastructure. We couldn’t ask for a better way to follow up on this incredibly relevant topic in the Retail industry today.Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

The sixth, and final, episode of our mini-series is titled, Retail Media. We discuss this new frontier. These brand or company-specific networks allow a brand to create media experiences across the customer journey (online and offline) while creating an entirely new high margin revenue stream via advertising.Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

The fifth episode of our mini-series is titled, Talent. We discuss all things talent and talent management where new thinking is required.Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!

Send us Fan MailRETAIL DONE RIGHT is produced by Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-WertzEmail Jeff at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereEmail Cristene at [email protected] and connect on LinkedIn hereFollow us on Instagram @retaildonerightTweet us @RetailD0neRightMichael Cooke is our brilliant sound engineer and editorJade Siriswad composed our theme musicLet's go shopping!