Retail Unwrapped - from The Robin Report

Hosted by The Robin Report

Business News Commentary

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Episodes

306

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to Retail Unwrapped, a podcast from The Robin Report. Join Shelley E. Kohan as she shares insights and unpacks issues at the core of retail and consumer products. The conversations are lively and the opinions are honest. New episodes every Friday.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

September 4, 202640 min

EP 308: A Visionary Designer Engineers a Radical Ganni Sneaker

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! It stands to reason that emerging technologies should help engineer visionary designs, and new tools will enable new solutions to old problems. That’s how Maria Intscher-Owrang, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Simplifyber used her curiosity and creativity and looked to sci-fi to reinvent a supply chain. She and her team developed natural fiber liquids that can be molded with 3D technology into unlimited shapes and engineered to outperform or even replace traditional fabrics and/or plastics. This short cuts traditionally complex multi-step manufacturing and transforms the traditional supply chain in the process. They have engineered these materials for apparel, footwear and car interiors. Her latest invention is to mold Ganni moon shoes through a fusion of sustainable and compostable bamboo, sugarcane, and wood enhanced by crystals. Join Haley and Maria as they dig into her journey of developing bio-based engineering and design with tech advanced tools. Maria describes her passion to change an industry and find alternatives to fossil-fuel based fibers, expendable apparel that pollutes unregulated environments, and unsafe clothing manufacturing conditions. Listen, learn, and be inspired. Guest: Maria Intscher-Owrang Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Simplifyber, For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

August 28, 202629 min

EP 307: How to Revive Personal Attention With Customers

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Membership points and convenience aren't the same thing as loyalty. Starbucks found this out the hard way when their app went dark; customers didn't wait in line for their order; they walked down the street to the competition. Join Shelley and David Wachs, founder of Handwrytten, as they reveal why personal attention beats personalization. They unpack what scalable tools retailers can use to keep customers feeling valued. Real loyalty is emotional, relatable and trustworthy; personalized tech tools could usher in the return of the lost art of handwritten notes…written and addressed in longhand by robots! Guest: David Wachs, Founder of Handwrytten For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

August 21, 202623 min

EP 306: An Economist's Warning on Shifts Impacting Holiday 2026

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Retailers keep bracing for the same inflation story to replay, but tariffs, the war on Iran, and an AI-driven integration boom are rewriting pressure points. Tariff uncertainty and the AI data center boom that is consuming construction materials and microchips are quietly driving up prices on everything from cell phones to electronics. Retailers are expected to hold the line on holiday pricing, but a cold winter could spike heating oil and diesel, forcing prices up. Join Shelley and Dan Altman, author of the High Yield Economics newsletter, as they unpack why the K-shaped economy is persisting, and why diversified supply chains and revenue streams are a survival strategy for retail leaders. Listen and learn why new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's tough talk on inflation hasn't translated into action, leaving markets guessing about the central bank's real direction and retailers guessing their way into the most important quarter of the year. Guest: Dan Altman, author of the High Yield Economics newsletter For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

August 14, 202636 min

EP 305: How Does The Vermont Country Store Keep Going?

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! The Vermont Country Store is an 80-year-old retail icon that has sustained the charm that made it famous and the business expertise that has kept it thriving since 1946. We caught up with Eliot Orton, an 8th-generation Vermonter and 4th-generation Vermont Country Storekeeper to get some insights on how his family has bult a multimillion business anchored in two stores in rural Vermont. Famous for its old-school mail-order catalog, offering practical and “hard to find” necessities, this general store institution is a throwback to a time when retail was central to the life of a community. Listen in as Shelley and Eliot reveal how the Orton family has resisted the temptation compromise their values in a screen-driven, digital marketplace. Their conversation gives a voice to deeply held values, classic, wearable clothes, and a retail ethos (including a customer bill of rights) that survives the test of time. Guest: Eliot Orton, Co-owner, The Vermont Country Store For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

August 7, 202622 min

EP 304: How to Avoid the AI Trust Recession

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Who, or what, do you trust? Retailers who think moving quickly on generative AI as the winning strategy, may be sacrificing trust for speed driven by board and competitive pressure, not customer demand. Speed without building a trust framework is how brands may lose the very customers they're racing to win. Join Shelley and Alice Pope, author of The Trust Algorithm: How Leaders Build Trust with Generative AI to get up to speed on a current trust recession. Alice says that we are facing more customer data than ever yet have a deeper skepticism about AI than ever. This conversation unpacks why unclear ownership, rushed rollouts, and eroding employee trust are creating governance gaps and quietly undermining the AI strategies retail boards have invested in. Listen and learn how to avoid the trust recession. Guest: Alice Pope, author, The Trust Algorithm: How Leaders Build Trust with Generative AI. For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

July 31, 202632 min

EP 303: Autonomous Delivery in the Driveway

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Every retailer preparing for autonomous delivery is watching the wrong vehicle; the real disruption isn't a drone or a sidewalk bot; it's the driverless car already parked in the customer's driveway. These autonomous vehicles are the next curbside pickup agents. But what happens when dozens of unmanned vehicles all show up for the same six parking stalls at the same time? Join Shelley and Ben Seidl, CEO and Co-Founder of Autolane, as they discuss the potential crisis brewing at malls and stores for managing these fleets of cars. Major retail landlords, including Simon Property Group, Federal Realty, and Jamestown, are already installing driverless parking infrastructure across properties in Austin, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Jose, and beyond. Planning ahead is never too early, and retailers need to be ready for new wave of autonomous deliveries. Special Guest: Ben Seidl, CEO & Co-Founder, Autolane For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

July 24, 202636 min

EP 302: It's About So Much More Than Lettuce

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Who's watching the lettuce? The cyclospora outbreak has 1,600+ confirmed, and 7,000 suspected victims. Americans are panicked about fresh produce, and Taco Bell has taken the toll from its Taylor Farms lettuce supplier. Join TRR contributors Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru and Warren Shoulberg, TRR Hit or Miss Editor, as they review the crisis facing retailers and American consumers. There is a deeper problem behind the crisis; FDA gave Taylor Farms the all-clear, only to reverse itself. Listen in to learn how this food crisis isn't just a lettuce story, it's a preview of what happens when our government agencies are understaffed and unable to stay ahead of a parasitic outbreak. Phil and Warren reveal why Costco and Walmart have their own safety standards, how retailers can protect their customers, and why the industry should step up to overcompensate for compromised government agencies. Guests: Phil Lempert, TRR Contributor, the Supermarket Guru & Warren Shoulberg, TRR Hit or Miss Editor, Home Expert For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

July 17, 202630 min

EP 301: Why an AI Agent Is More Trusted

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Growing dependence on AI has revealed how risk and trust are influencing customer shopping behavior. Join Shelley and Shiv Gupta, Chief Analytics and Solutions Officer at Volute Group, as they explore how AI is used as a confessional when consumers trust agents more than websites, data collectors, and even other humans. They also discuss why unprompted data is a rich information mining opportunity for retailers, plus how to use AI to determine a customer’s lifetime value, intent and probability of purchasing decisions, and how to leverage branding with unemotional, impartial AI feedback. Shiva believes, “Niche retailers are going to do a whole lot better than they've ever done before because they can define the product, audience, and service with a lot more clarity because they don't have a large spread of assortment.” Find out why what you say about your brand and your product may be less influential than what others are saying. As Shiv says, “The misconception is that if you speak louder, you’ll be heard better; but you need to speak smarter.” Special Guest: Shiv Gupta, Chief Analytics & Solutions Officer, Volute Group. For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

July 10, 202630 min

EP 300: Spoiler Alert: Stop Chasing AI and Clean Up Your Store First

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! AI continues to make headline news throwing retailers into disruption. But the real news is that retail is in crisis and it’s in the physical store. Join Shelley and Mark Cohen, TRR contributor and former Director of Columbia University's Retail Studies Program, as they challenge the industry's obsession with technology and make an unapologetic case for getting back to basics. Listen and learn from a blunt, provocative conversation about the state of retail; it may make you feel uncomfortable, but it is an unvarnished assessment of how an obsession with AI is incapable of replacing intuition, vision, leadership, and the unpredictable human behavior that drives the retail industry. Special Guest: Mark Cohen. TRR Contributor, former Director of Columbia University's Retail Studies Program, Retail CEO Veteran For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .

July 3, 202637 min

EP 299: Signals Retailers Are Missing

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! The biggest threats to retail are hiding in plain sight. And the biggest problems facing retailers are caused by not asking the right questions. This is not convenient management theory; it is missing the key signals that are reshaping the retail industry. Join Shelley and David Katz, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Randa Apparel and Accessories, as they challenge why reading the headlines is not the same as understanding what those headlines mean and why they matter. David’s gray swan model reveals how key trends are bellwethers for significant shifts. Listen and learn why boomers in America, GLP-1s’ resizing of America, climate risk, and supply chain concentration are trigger events that retailers need to pay attention to. This conversation is surprising and provocative, and a call to action for critical scenario planning and foresight. Special Guest: David Katz, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Randa Apparel & Accessories For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com , where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and Twitter .