When you ask the leaders of consumer brands what worries them most today, many will tell you the rising costs of acquiring customers.  Customer acquisition cost, or CAC, can relate to any method of acquiring customers and, for omnichannel consumer companies, can include costs associated with stores (depreciated buildout, employee costs and rent), catalog production […]

According to the American Pet Products Association, the U.S. will spend more than $75 billion on pets this year, and the largest segment of pet owners are now millennials, who seem willing to spare no pet-related-expense. Yet even within such a large and growing industry, certain businesses thrive while others struggle. Examining the factors that […]

So far this season, only one NFL head coach has been fired and replaced (the Washington Redskins’ now-former coach, Jay Gruden). Accordingly, football fans and analysts would not yet deem us to be on the “coaching carousel,” or in “hot seat season.” The same is not true for CEOs and high-ranking executives of athletic companies. […]

We are now fifty-eight days from Christmas.  In just eleven days, Halloween will be over, leftover candy will disappear from retail shelves and retail windows will be prepped for the Holiday season. Will Holiday retail sales be Scrooge-like or jolly?  The prognosticators believe there will be an abundance of good cheer, but that the Grinch […]

Earlier this month, Walmart announced that it was selling ModCloth, a digitally native women’s fashion brand, a little over two years since acquired the business. ModCloth sells clothing, footwear, bags, and jewelry, and targets the 18- to 35-year-old demographic. News of the sale, which is expected to close later this year, comes after reports this […]