Retail at a Pivot Point

THE TINSEL, LIGHTS and multi-colored ornaments have been removed from a would-be forest of withering Blue Spruce, Douglas Fir and Scotch Pine evergreens. The confetti has been swept away from a scaled down New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, and January is blowing its icy breath through a filigree of barren branches on the city’s leafless sycamore trees. As we usher in the New Year, we bid a fond farewell and good riddance to the challenging year that passed. And as I ponder the turning of the calendar with an air of optimism, I’m compelled to wonder, after all that we have been through since the onset of the pandemic: Why are we here? To be sure, my query isn’t merely why are we living in whatever city, town or village that we call home, but rather more of a metaphysical pondering. Why are we, as human beings, here?

Mark Twain, the celebrated 19th century novelist said, “The most important days of your life are the day that you were born, and the day that you figured out why.” Some will say that we are here to do good. In fact, some say that “doing good” is cool. Can you imagine that? And who is saying that? The shopping public is saying that. Particularly millennial shoppers. The retailers who recognize this are the retailers who will succeed. The retailers who understand that it’s not about selling in the post-pandemic world, but rather it’s about giving, are the retailers who will define the future. Truly great retailers will step up and make a real difference in the communities that are struggling to find solid ground from which to build a safer, more inclusive and sustainable environment. So as we turn the page from one year to the next, retailers, whether old and established or new and entrepreneurial, must also turn introspectively and ask the question, why are we here?

Looking back to the formative days of my career in retail design, equipped with a degree in art, I often asked myself the same question. I wanted to make a difference, and here I was just trying to sell a pair of jeans. Why was I here? Certainly, as my career unfolded, I came to realize that retail is so much more than selling things, but rather it’s a bookmark of our history and a reflection of our time. If you were to hold a mirror to the face of retail, the reflected image would be us.

As time passed, my interest and understanding of the retail world was further piqued with my discovery of the likes of Italian fashion designer  Elsa Schiaparelli, who elevated fashion to an art form, and further still to Pierre Cardin, who offered that art form to a broader audience. Retail indeed is an integral part of our culture. It has a great impact on the broader world and the smaller subsets that we all share. As we advance into the new year, retailers must ask themselves what the world would miss if they didn’t exist. What contributions have they made to the community? And once they ask those questions, they will find that the answers will provide a roadmap not only to the future, but to a more noble cause. Retailers must listen to, learn from and understand those with whom they would like to connect. Looking toward the future, they must understand that they will be judged by what they do here and now. Name brand recognition tomorrow is contingent on the actions taken today.

Customers will lend their support to brands that are supportive of them. Doing good in the world has become a product offering and an attribute of the brand. Economist Milton Friedman  advanced the narrative that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. He championed the notion that shareholder interests should be assigned first priority relative to all other corporate stakeholders The natural deduction here is that a corporate leader works for the shareholders. Bob Dylan told us, “The times they are a-changin,” and indeed they are.

As we venture deeper into the 21st century with higher levels of social awareness and empathy, it’s high time to expand the aperture and look at the world through a broader lens. The time is now for courageous retailers to stand up for more noble causes. It’s time to focus on human value rather than monetary worth. It’s time to focus on the capital of caring.