Steve Dennis is back from Athens, where he keynoted on the soul of the store and walked the Ancient Agora, one of the world’s first marketplaces. He and Michael LeBlanc open with a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report: consumer prices up 3.7%, producer prices up 6.3%. How much have retailers been absorbing, and what happens when elevated diesel costs work through the food chain into 2027? The winners keep winning anyway. Costco posted a 7.6% comp excluding gas on 4.7% traffic growth. Aritzia delivered a 34.5% comp with digital up nearly 70%. Uniqlo logged its fifth straight record year. LVMH did not, with fashion and leather goods down 5%. The hosts also size up Amazon’s new Bee wearables and Apple’s new home device.
The featured conversation is with Jon Blotner, President of Wayfair, who runs merchandising, marketing, physical retail and global logistics. After two decades as a pure play, Wayfair has gone from a small test store in the Natick Mall to a 150,000-square-foot flagship outside Chicago. Atlanta and Columbus are open, Denver arrives by year-end, and six more stores are planned through 2028. The early returns are hard to ignore. Illinois sales are growing 15% faster than the rest of the U.S., roughly half of Chicago store shoppers are new to Wayfair, and opening-day crowds included shoppers who bused in from Wisconsin. Landlords noticed.
Jon explains why a showroom model didn’t fit, how the Wayfair Verified program brings merchant discipline to deciding what earns floor space, and how associates with tablets connect shoppers to the endless aisle and two-day delivery. He takes on Michael’s question of whether rent is the new customer acquisition cost, and explains why he expects store shoppers to deliver meaningfully higher lifetime value. He also covers four-wall profitability, falling opening costs, the roles of AllModern, Birch Lane, Joss & Main, Perigold and Wayfair Professional, and Wayfair’s ambitions for Canada. He closes with advice for digital brands going physical, starting with why a store test demands far more planning than an online one.
After the interview, Steve, a longtime Wayfair skeptic, gives his updated take. Then the hosts turn to grocery’s mushy middle. Kroger posted flat sales excluding fuel and cut guidance, Albertsons slipped 1% and withdrew guidance, and the hosts ask whether online grocery and retail media are really additive. They close with their radar screen picks, including the US midterms and the Weston family’s purchase of Boots.
About Us
Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2026 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.
