STORES

Salomon

About 80 years after its founding in the French Alps, Salomon is looking to make a bigger mark in the US with a new store in NYC.

Originally established as a winter sports company, the outdoor performance brand has spent decades building credibility among skiers, trail runners, and outdoor enthusiasts. More recently, however, its sneakers and apparel have become staples of modern sport style, helping connect the brand to a younger generation of consumers.

And now, with its newest outpost in New York City’s Flatiron District, the brand’s seventh store in the country, Salomon is looking to capitalize on that momentum while remaining true to its roots.

In a recent conversation with Retail Brew, President and GM of the Americas Steve Doolan spoke about the importance of physical retail, and building brand awareness in the US.

Keep reading here.—JS

      

Sponsored By Oracle NetSuite

EBITDA can be useful, but treating it like the whole financial picture is how companies end up surprised by payroll, debt, inventory costs, and other tiny details, like needing actual money.

Oracle NetSuite’s guide explains why operating cash flow gives CFOs a stronger view of business health because it shows the cash available to pay employees, invest, respond to unexpected events, and keep growth from becoming a high-stakes project.

The guide also covers common EBITDA misconceptions, the risks of confusing profitability with liquidity, and practical steps finance leaders can take to improve cash visibility and discipline.

For retailers trying to grow without turning every invoice into a suspense thriller, cash flow deserves top billing. Download the guide and give EBITDA a little supervision before it starts freelancing as a strategy with a spreadsheet.

LABOR

Giphy

For millions of shoppers, Amazon Prime Day is a coveted festival of discounted fare…from air fryers to Yankee Candles to ceramic butter boats to parachute pants. For Amazon, it’s one of the company’s most demanding workforce and operational stress tests. And for the HR and robotics teams, it’s all made possible by careful coordination and months of preparation.

Across its network of warehouses and fulfillment centers, the online retail giant prepares and aligns its people, technology, and systems for the annual surge in orders. Prime Day (which ran from June 23–26) has evolved into a carefully designed exercise of employee communication, training, and engagement, not to mention increasing human-robot collaboration.

Keep reading here on HR Brew.—AD

      

COMMUNITY

Raj De Datta

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Raj De Datta is co-founder and CEO of Bloomreach, which customizes the ecommerce experience using AI.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I lead a company that helps brands make online shopping feel less like searching through a warehouse and more like walking into your favorite neighborhood store where the associate already knows your tastes. My job is to bring together data, AI, and design so that every customer gets a uniquely relevant experience—the right product, at the right moment, in the right context. Practically, that means I spend my time setting vision, working closely with customers and our product teams, and making sure we’re always pushing the boundaries of what digital commerce can do.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? You might assume my job is mostly about strategy decks and board meetings, but a surprising amount of my time is spent listening—really listening—to retailers, merchandisers, and marketers. I still join customer calls where we’re deep in the weeds about search terms, conversion paths, or why a particular journey broke down. Those conversations, and even late-night Slack threads with our teams about specific customer problems, shape our roadmap more than any formal plan ever could.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? The work I’m most proud of is how we’ve evolved Bloomreach from a search and personalization product into a broader vision of AI-driven, agentic commerce, where the experience actively works on behalf of the shopper, not the other way around.

Keep reading here.—EC

      

Sponsored By Snapchat

Stand out by…standing out. Fitting in isn’t cutting it for brands. Not when the options are endless scrolls and identical feeds. Snap Inc. is building unique and engaging advertising formats to capture attention. By pioneering new placements, they’re leveraging authenticity with creators and formats that are intriguing and intuitive to the user experience to capture and keep audience attention.

swapping skus

Today’s top retail reads.

Berry the lead: How Driscoll’s pushed berries from seasonal fare to a year-round grocery store staple. (the New York Times)

Under renovation: A now-empty Macy’s store in Brooklyn is set to be transformed into a 440,000-square-foot retail, entertainment, and dining experience. (Chain Store Age)

Price check: Dollar General said all items in its back-to-school section this year will feature the same prices as last year. (Progressive Grocer)

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

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50% of Gen Z customers will dwell on what’s in their cart for two or more days before committing to a purchase. Learn more about what Retail Brew’s consumer study reveals.