STORES Convention Daily Preview Issue - 4

2018 BIG SHOW PREVIEW

The 17 Biggest Stories of 2017

ompiling a list of the 17 biggest
retail stories for 2017 proved
to be a thought-provoking task.
While so many of the headlines that peppered media in 2017 were negative, the
retail industry set new sales records over
and over again last year, reaching new
highs on Amazon Prime Day, Alibaba's
Singles Day and Cyber Monday. Say

what you will about consumers' frame of
mind, they brought their "A" game when
it came to shopping.
The most stunning news of 2017
may have been Amazon's acquisition of
Whole Foods Market; in retail circles, it
was the type of event so shocking that
most remember where they were and
what they were doing when they first

heard the news.
Meanwhile, it was a tale of many
different scenarios when it came to retail
IPOs, and as the industry morphs into
something new, a handful of old guard
merchants and executives closed out their
final season.
Along with the biggest headlines,
2017 will be remembered for the tech-

nology trends sweeping the industry,
including artificial intelligence, voice
commerce and augmented reality -
along with the efforts of so many vendors
and solution providers to prepare for the
coming Internet of Things revolution.
What do you recall as the biggest
retail stories of 2017? Here's our list. Let
us know if you agree.

February - December
January - December

Walmart's continued growth
Walmart Inc. reported its strongest
U.S. sales gain in more than eight years
in November and company shares
rose 11 percent to $99.62, the highest
since the company's public offering
in 1970 and a gain of 44 percent last
year. Indeed, Walmart grabbed at least
one top headline nearly every month in
2017. In January, it acquired ShoeBuy
and debuted two-day free shipping. In
February, it snared Moosejaw and the
following month added ModCloth to

its portfolio. The retailer's Outside
the Box podcast debuted in May and
in June the Bentonville giant brought
Bonobos into the fold. Later in the
year a new ecommerce facility opened,
online grocery pickup reached 1,000
stores and delivery company Parcel
was acquired. Lord & Taylor announced it will launch a flagship store
on Walmart.com this spring, and the
retailer closed the year out with news
that it was changing the company's
legal name to Walmart Inc.

Tales of retail's death are greatly exaggerated
Discussions about the future of retail were rampant throughout 2017, with the
mainstream media trying to cast and recast a story about how physical stores are dying.
It was a tough year for the retail industry to be sure, with thousands of store closures,
numerous bankruptcies and endless price wars. Yet despite the adverse headlines, many
retailers continued to grow their respective businesses, opening new stores, rethinking store experiences and retooling their ecommerce platforms - in short, adapting
to a changing consumer. "The U.S. retail sector is overstored and out of step in an
era of ecommerce," said Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Fassler. "But retail is not
dead, it is changing. How
bricks-and-mortar stores
employ new technologies
and new models may determine how they survive
the relentless shift online."

June

J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler steps down
Retail legend Millard "Mickey" Drexler stepped down
as CEO of J.Crew after leading the preppy apparel retailer
for over 14 years. Drexler, best known as the merchant
prince who steered Gap's iconic years, told the Wall Street
Journal that he didn't anticipate how much technology
would reshape retail. "I've never seen the speed of change
as it is today," he said. "If I could go back 10 years, I might
have done some things earlier." Another notable retail
luminary that exited: Gerald Storch, CEO of Hudson's
Bay Co., bowed out November 1. Storch's storied career
in retail includes Supervalu, Toys "R" Us and Target.

Blue Apron's
IPO overwhelmed by
Amazon's
purchase of
Whole Foods
Market
Retail and
retail-related
IPOs delivered
some meaty
stories in 2017. Meal kit provider Blue Apron saw its
targeted valuation drop like an uncooked soufflé, unable to withstand the competitive fallout anticipated by
Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods Market. Blue
Apron has faced challenges since its IPO, including
cutting prices, shedding 6 percent of its global workforce and the exodus of co-founder/CEO Matt Salzberg.
Snap's stock has been battered in the months after its
high-flying IPO in March, with shares falling roughly
50 percent from its peak. And in November Stitch Fix
went public, raising $120 million to help fuel future
growth. Stich Fix's IPO marked an important milestone:
It was the first female-led tech company to go public
in more than a year.

June

Lidl enters the United States
Lidl opened its first nine U.S. stores in midJune, giving American consumers their first look
at the German discount grocery juggernaut. Positioned to compete head-on with Walmart and Aldi
on price, Lidl's arrival put supermarket operators
on edge; the company was hoping to win over
Americans with sweeping discounts, modern stores
and carefully curated wines. Lidl opened fewer
than 50 stores last year (not the 90 units originally
planned), and is now looking to lease sites for new
stores as opposed to solely purchasing them. While
Lidl opened with plenty of fanfare, many are reporting that sales and growth have cooled, causing
executives to slow expansion plans.
Photos on this page: Shutterstock.com
See "17 Biggest Stories" on page 6

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