PERSPECTIVES

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• 

  Not Just WHETHER to Re-Open. WHAT to Re-Open?

  Some thoughts from Nordstrom leadership that are spot on!

  • “We started this company from scratch, so what would we want to be, knowing what we know now? It’s clear we can expect a new normal. And it's up to us to decide what that will look like. We're each being presented with the unique opportunity to create a future worth envisioning.”

  That's what Nordstrom President and Chief Brand Officer Pete Nordstrom told Puget Sound Business Journal columnist Patti Payne on April 23, 2020.
  
  And what he succinctly stated is exactly the challenge – and opportunity – that is confronting all retail owners. 
  
  In order to answer whether you should re-open once you can, you first must be very confident in WHAT kind of retail operation you will be re-opening.
  
  The only certainty of the aftermath of the pandemic is that everything will be different. Given that, what better time to re-imagine your business?

• We Give Thanks...To YOU!

  Yes, to you.

  Since 1999, you and people like you have supported the mission of The Retail Owners Institute® to “Eradicate retail bankruptcies,” one way or another. 

  We give thanks to you. 

  As you may know, the worldwide retail industry has the highest failure rate of any major industry.

• 

  When Up Is Down (Yes, we can explain)

  You've no doubt seen the headlines. "Retail sales slumped in December." 
  
  Sounds pretty grim, doesn't it? Did all those foreboding warnings of supply chain issues, inventory shortages, etcetera actually come true?

  • Keep in mind that the folks trumpeting those slumping sales results are comparing each month's retail sales to the previous month. Sure enough, on that basis it is true that retail sales in December were almost 2% less than they were in November.
     
  • However, if you examine the same numbers the way that retailers do– that is, comparing to the same month the prior year – we see a very different story.
• 

  Is Being First Smart?

  A few years ago, during a planning session in our office, we drew a quick diagram on a whiteboard. It showed three shapes. 

  • The large rectangle at the top was labeled "What we COULD do" Lots of good ideas deserved a place in this box!
  • The much smaller rectangle below it was labeled "What  we SHOULD do" Ahh yes, those pesky obligations. 
  • And finally, at the bottom, was a tiny little square: "What we WILL do!" 

  Out of all of the potential things we could do, which ones truly warrant our time, energy, and resources?

  That picture keeps coming to mind as the COVID-19 shutdown orders on retailers of "non-essential" goods are starting to be lifted. 

• 

  Come Labor Day, How Might Things Look?

  We believe there are not one, but three(!) pandemics occurring simultaneously right now. Of course, the COVID-19 virus elevated the word "pandemic" to a status that identifies even a generation of babies. 
  
  But the other two pandemics are equally paralyzing: the nationwide (even worldwide) protests of racial injustice, and the severe unemployment from the economic collapse. 
  
  Indeed, three concurrent, worldwide sinkholes. We call it the "pandemic trifecta of 2020."
  
  So, what's an intelligent retailer to think now?!
  
  Here's one idea that we believe can help you have more confidence in your immediate decisions. Think beyond this week and this month. ​

• Responding to COVID-19: Apply Your Best Judgment

  Alas, there is really no way to avoid discussing COVID-19, the coronavirus that began in China last month, and now continues to spread throughout the world.
  
  No matter whether or when it is officially declared a "pandemic," the uncertainty and angst that it is generating have troubling implications for retailers.