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Jim Gilbert is co-founder and chief marketing officer of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand Premo Natural Products. In this video interview, Gilbert discusses why, after years of marketing consulting work, he decided it was time to build his own e-commerce company with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. He shares how Premo has grown over 100 percent year-over-year…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Marie Albiges and Joe Keenan discuss the key themes and trends being discussed during the Shoptalk 2023 conference in Las Vegas this week. They also touch upon highlights from sessions held at the Women in Retail Pavilion, hosted by Women in Retail Leadership Circle, sister brand of Total Retail.

Simply put, Total Retail Tech brings the right people together for the right conversations. By matching like-minded retail executives, Total Retail Tech enables honest and open discussions about technology and other business challenges. Furthermore, instead of learning about technologies you don’t need or can’t implement, Total Retail Tech matches the right retailers with the right technology…

Maurice Contreras is founder and CEO of Volcanica Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster that imports 150-plus exotic coffees from volcanic regions around the world. While at the National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City earlier this week, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan spoke with Contreras about the company and his career background, the online shopping…

Numerous studies have shown that racial and ethnic minorities, as well as women, are still woefully underrepresented in technology roles. However, the retail tech industry doesn't just have a diversity issue; there's an inclusivity issue as well. At a session focused on diversifying your tech workforce during last month's Total Retail Tech event in Nashville,…

This video features an interview with Tim Simmons, senior vice president and chief product officer of Sam's Club, and moderator Kathy Kimple, executive director of OSF Digital, at Total Retail Tech 2022 in Nashville. Sam’s Club, the membership warehouse club division of Walmart Inc., is well-known for being a retail innovator that’s constantly experimenting with…

This video features an interview with Chandra Holt, CEO and president of Conn's HomePlus, and moderator Laura Wheeler, managing director at Ankura, at Total Retail Tech 2022 in Nashville. Named CEO and president of Conn’s HomePlus in August 2021, Chandra Holt has been hard at work the past year transforming the regional furniture and appliances retailer into a…

This video features a keynote, The AI Factor: How Retailers Can Extract Value From Data, delivered by Asha Saxena, CEO and founder of Women Leaders in Data and AI, at Total Retail Tech 2022 in Nashville. There has been an acceleration of digitalization resulting in more data than ever. Organizations are thinking about how they can…

This video features a keynote, How JC Curleigh Brought Gibson Brands Back to Life, delivered by JC Curleigh, president and CEO of Gibson Brands, at Total Retail Tech 2022 in Nashville. James “JC” Curleigh had no idea what was about to happen after making a call to Gibson — one of his favorite brands — in the fall…

This video features the Startup Challenge session from Total Retail Tech 2022 in Nashville. Startup presenters included Chris Silver, Co-Founder and CEO, BambuMeta; Ileana Del Risco, CEO, Modi; and Nicole Phillips, Co-Founder and CEO, Qatch. Judges included Vanathy Lakshmi, Vice President, Product and Experiences, JCPenney; Erica Fortune, Senior Vice President, E-Commerce, Big Lots; and Kaitlin Hutchinson,…

This video features a panel discussing diversity in the retail tech workforce from Total Retail Tech 2022 in Nashville. Speakers include Sneha Narahalli, Vice President, Head of Product (Digital, Data and MarTech), Sephora; Manju Thomas, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Stitch Fix; Aaron Limonthas, Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Shipt; and moderator Ayana Parsons, Senior…

This video features a clip from a keynote presentation delivered by JC Curleigh, president and CEO of Gibson Brands, at Total Retail Tech in Nashville earlier this month. Curleigh tells the story of how he became CEO of Gibson Brands and helped lead the iconic music retailer out of bankruptcy, tapping into the brand's history and innovating…

Vera Bradley was ranked No. 1 on Forbes' 2022 America's Best Midsize Employers list. Daren Hull, president of Vera Bradley, recently spoke during the August Women in Retail and Total Retail Virtual Exchange on how the retailer creates an inclusive culture and became a top workplace for diversity. In this clip from his session, Hull shares three unique…

Every organization should be on an ever-evolving environmental, social and governance (ESG) journey. In this video, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Kathleen Carroll, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Grainger, a leading business-to-business (B-to-B) broad line distributor. Carroll discusses Grainger's portfolio of environmentally preferable products (EPP), why the business focuses on environmental sustainability, and…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Marie Albiges are on location in Miami, FL at the 2022 Women in Retail Leadership Summit, hosted by Total Retail's sister brand, Women in Retail Leadership Circle. The event was an incredible success, with nearly 500 women executives in attendance and palpable positive energy and…

During Shoptalk 2022 in Las Vegas last month, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviewed Katia Walsh, senior vice president, chief global strategy and artificial intelligence officer at Levi Strauss & Co. In this video, Walsh discusses her innovative role at Levi's, the challenges in attracting and retaining top digital talent, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected hiring. She…

In this video, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Marie Albiges celebrate the 200th episode of Retail Right Now! For nearly four years running, this weekly video series has brought Total Retail's audience the latest news, top industry trends, and more to keep viewers up-to-date with what’s happening in retail right now. To celebrate, we’re going…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Marie Albiges discuss the 2022 Top Women in Retail report, released by our sister brand, Women in Retail Leadership Circle. For 12 years running, this report has recognized the top women executives in the retail industry. Like the prior 11 years, this in-depth resource…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss three key themes that emerged during this week's National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show event in New York City. First, retailers are excited to explore opportunities in the metaverse. Second, they're focusing on defining and then acting upon core social values…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Melissa Campanelli and Kristina Stidham discuss an article recently published by Total Retail, “Using Workforce Education to Attract and Keep Retail Employees in Today’s Labor Crisis,” authored by Sean Flynn, chief customer officer of InStride. The workforce challenges for employers in the retail space are real…