Apparently These Brands Did Not Get The ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Memo

For a couple of years now pundits, analysts, journalists and various other retail observers have been advancing the “retail apocalypse” narrative. A typical story or opinion piece warns of the “death of the mall”, points out how “e-commerce is eating the world” and generally suggests that “traditional” retailers are toast. Alas, facts are stubborn things, as I point out in my keynote talks and have highlighted in my recent Forbes article “Physical Retail Is Not Dead. Boring Retail Is.” Recent reports from several high profile, clearly brick & mortar dominant, retailers underscore the uselessness of broad statements about the future of physical shopping. Despite the supposed plague descending upon those poor sods that continue to open actual stores, Lululemon and Costco managed to drive double-digit comparable store increases AND robust e-commerce growth. Same story with Ulta, the beauty brand that is opening 100 new stores this year. If physical retail is dead, please also get the word out to TJX, Ross, Dollar General and Aldi, all of which continue to open significant numbers of new locations. Oh, and don’t forget Warby Parker, Indochino, Untuckit, Everlane, Fabletics and many other brands that started online only to discover that physical stores are essential to the next stage of their growth–and may actually be the key to their making any real money. Read more at Forbes.