Retail has the grit to survive any challenge

With an almost 50-year long retail career, I’ve seen and learnt a lot. Our industry has practically seen a setback of some sort every six-seven years – bankruptcy to consolidation, challenging and dramatic impact of 9/11 on retail to the financial crisis of 2008. Every time, after each crisis, retail has responded in a strong way around the world and certainly in the US.

Our company, particularly, has ended up better and stronger after every such difficult period. It forced us to change, react and do things differently. It forced us to think more uniquely about our offerings and what we bring to our consumers. As hard as it may seem, difficult times have strengthened our industry.

Today we are once again faced with difficult and challenging times. The year 2016 was extremely challenging for retail, particularly luxury, high-end and mid-priced retailers. But we will certainly deal with the existing challenges through innovation and ideas.

In an exclusive interview with Rupkatha Bhowmick, Terry J Lundgren, executive chairman and chairman of the board at Macy’s Inc. makes serious observations on the state of retail.

Read the full article in the May edition of RetailME