From the New York Times in 1971, resurfaced because of the chain’s recent bankruptcy filing. “In an interview on his 93d birthday, he said that the profit sharing plan for employees that he started in 1907 had been largely responsible […]
I didn’t know where to include this link so it’s here. We should remember the strong network effects of cities before we believe that they’ll fall apart in favor of remote work. | learn more
Scott Galloway is impressed by Amazon. “Any customer, vendor, supplier or worker who wants a near-virus-free supply chain, a criterion that has gone from zero to light speed in 90 days, will have a selection set of one.” | learn more
They’re up in many categories, down in others. Amazon deemed books non-essential, slowing orders. Meanwhile startup Bookshop.org is growing out of control. One of their main selling points seems to be that they’re not Amazon. | learn more
You may not be surprised that a lot of purchases from Amazon start with product discovery outside of Amazon. One of the big drivers of growth the past 20 years has been their vast network of ‘associates’ who drive traffic […]
Ben Thompson writes in Stratechery, reminds us that “everyone in commerce is, whether they realize it or not, in the Anti-Amazon Alliance, and that provides plenty of motivation.” | learn more
There are a lot of independent retailers on the Shopify platform. This is novel because the platform is normally behind the scenes. This app is consumer-facing, tying together multiple retailers into one experience. | learn more
The strategic concept here is interesting. Also interesting is my apparent ignorance of most hot new consumer brands. Maybe it’s because I don’t use Instagram? “Growing coalitions between brands via community and content is one bet for them to survive. […]
A little lockdown can’t stop this train! “March’s total medical cannabis sales in Illinois were not only up, but seemingly following the same growth curve established in 2019.” | learn more
This recent issue of the newsletter Petition contains a bunch of interesting insights. Retailers are so far notably absent from restructuring. Why? One reason: it’s hard to do a Going Out of Business Sale when stores aren’t open. | learn more