Remarkable Retail Podcast · 2026-06-09 · 41 min
On Episode 304 of the Remarkable Retail podcast, co-hosts Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc dig into a busy earnings season, the global forces reshaping retail, and the competitive divides separating winners from also-rans. They open with the department store sector, which Steve frames as "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." Macy's shows incremental progress and Bloomingdale's posts double-digit growth, but Kohl's stays stuck and JCPenney's latest numbers underscore the structural problems dogging traditional operators. The throughline: shifting market share, real estate decisions, and changing consumer behavior keep narrowing the path forward for the format, and the gap between the sector's healthier players and its laggards continues to widen. From there, the hosts turn to retail's brighter turnaround stories. Victoria's Secret keeps building momentum with stronger comps and improved profitability, while Gap Inc. shows how disciplined brand management and sharper product focus can revive a business. They also weigh the intensifying competition among athleisure brands as the category's leaders pull further ahead and the middle of the pack scrambles to keep up.
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