The Energizing Women's Wear Daily Apparel & Retail Summit
This week, I had the great pleasure of attending the Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) Apparel & Retail Summit, held at New York City’s iconic Plaza Hotel. The Summit is attended by CEOs and Presidents in the apparel and retail industry and is designed as a forum to discuss critical issues of the day, gain a sense of future issues and direction, and hear case studies and real solutions to these issues. Topics included:
- The Changing Face of Commerce
- The Future of China
- Designers + Brands–Striking the Right Balance
- The Inversion of Influence
- Rethinking Leadership for the 21st Century
- And More
It’s always so motivating and revitalizing to be in the company of the titans of the industry and to listen to their personal views and experiences. I left feeling quite energized.
1 Gina Sanders, President and CEO, Fairchild Fashion Media, welcomed everyone and gave an excellent introduction to the conference.
2 The conference took place in the Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom and the subject was LEADERSHIP.
3 CEO'S and executives from the world of merchandizing and retail attended the conference.
4 The ballroom is an excellent place for such a conference - comfortable, good acoustics, pretty, and efficient.
5 The first speaker was Ron Johnson, CEO of J.C. Penney Inc. Here he is awaiting his turn on stage.
6 Ron Johnson always wears jeans, a white shirt, and a grey V-neck sweater - all purchased at J.C. Penney.
7 The messaging for the conference was clear and useful - a famous quote from our short-lived, but vital President John F. Kennedy.
8 Edward Nardoza, Editor-in-Chief, WWD, spoke second. He gave an overview of what was to be expected for the two day seminar.
9 Edward Nardoza is an astute and very good editor-in-chief. WWD is an influential and very widely read publication for fashion, retail, and merchandizing world wide.
10 Ron Johnson speaks effortlessly and clearly. His speech was directed at lessons he learned from his former boss, the legendary Steve Jobs.
11 Steve told Ron that significance has real meaning. There is never anything small to do. With this belief, Steve reinvented Apple and all of its products.
12 Marathon - Take a lot of time and focus for everything, even if that means 5 to 7 years. Organize very carefully. Be totally involved and always realize that it is OK to start over, if need be.
13 Butterfly - Steve managed his life like a butterfly. He ran Pixar two days a week and "floated" over to Apple for three.
14 Intimacy - Steve was a very private person and if you needed to talk to him after office hours, you could call him after his kids went to bed.
15 Truth - Always be truthful to yourself and to those around you. This is Steve at his amazing 2005 Stanford commencement speech. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWUCX6osgM
16 Details - Pay attention to details and set standards for everything both big and small. This slide is of the innovative glass staircase in the Soho Apple Store in NY City - a design so novel that it's patented.
17 Ron talked about the importance of simplicity, intuition, and the inevitable. He said that the journey is the reward and that a store should be about what the customer looks for and leaves with.
18 The new J.C. Penny logo - Stores need new ideas, new brands, and new and unique products.
19 After his talk, Ron sat down to answer audience and host queries. Again, his demeanor was lively and direct and extremely friendly.
20 The audience was quite enraptured by his remarks.
21 Ron is attempting to "revolutionize" American retail and the way goods are sold in stores. He understands the pressure put on retail by Amazon, which is the behemoth online shopping experience started not long ago by Jeff Bezos.
22 Ron spoke about his experience building the hugely innovative and successful Apple stores.
23 Husband, father, and original thinker and doer, Ron now has the huge challenge of rebuilding one of America's most venerable stores in a new image.
24 One of my favorite "paparazzi" - he was busy taking photos all day.
25 Professor Gary Hamel - He is amazing! A vibrant speaker, he had so much to say about leadership and used cartoons and as well chosen comments to teach us all things we don't focus on enough.
26 "It's up to you now, Miller. The only thing that can save us is an accounting miracle.
27 He made the point that Steve Jobs, Larry Page, nor Mark Zuckerberg would have succeeded as they have if they had worked for Bill Gates. They needed their own forum to develop and build giant companies.
28 "I'd be happy to give you some innovative thinking. What are the guidelines?"
29 The Professor spoke about some real stumbling blocks in business.
30 "Really, I"m fine. It was just a fleeting sense of purpose--I'm sure it will pass."
31 And now for a very different speaking approach - Mickey Drexler, the legendary and hugely successful retail innovator
32 Mickey led Gap to greatness.
33 Micky is funny and highly engaging. He spoke about how most people underestimate the importance of creativity. You must always listen to associates, customers, and critics. And above all else, you must respect your customers. They are your most important visitor.
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Martha, the WWD Apparel and Retail Summit sounds like it was a very interesting, informative and lively conference, no wonder it left you feeling so energized! What fun it must have been listening to such great innovative thinkers and doers like Ron Johnson and Mickey Drexler.
I have to say JCPenney holds a special place in my heart because it's my grandmothers favorite store. She's been shopping there as long as I can remember. I personally just received some black boots that I ordered online from JCP that are fantastic! You would fall over if I told you how much I paid for them!
Posted by: Cindy F | January 10th, 2013 at 8:00 am
Hi Martha,
Reading your blog on the Summit makes me feel as if I were there! All your blogs are like that. You have an amazing ability to be our eyes and ears for all your travels and activities and I just love it. Thank you!
I have a newfound respect or J.C. Penney and all the Ron Johnson is doing to reinvent retail. Reading about his speech incentivizes me to go to JCPand check it out. I haven't been there for probably 20 years but will plan to go now and see how it's changed.
Thank you for also sharing the lessons on leadership. These are invaluable takeaways and I learned some new things about leadership, innovation and creativity.
Next year you should be the keynote speaker. You are an iconic CEO and simply the best of the best.
Thank you again for sharing. I work in the corporate world and know about the Summit but have never been. So energizing as you say in your title!!
Bye!
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa Gordon Miller | January 10th, 2013 at 8:08 am
Hi Martha, How great to see you on the Today Show yesterday showing us and Matt some of your recipes from the new cookbook Meatless!! It was fabulous! Was able to see your PBS Cooking School about braising again yesterday morning and love that, also! Once again you gave us some great tweets on Twitter! It's so inspiring to see all of these things daily whenever possible! Sure would hope you could have a new TV Show for all of us to enjoy daily! This latest blog today is fascinating about an event you went to that I am not aware of and I learned a lot about those great things you shared with us about it! The WWD Apparel & Retail Summit with Gina Sanders, Ron Johnson, and others must have been a fabulous, inspiring conference and it's easy to see that you were extremely energized to here each speaker give you terrific ideas! All of us customers certainly do love your products and I think JCPenney's will have some great new products for us fairly soon and I can't wait to see all of them! Hope you are having another great day, Martha, and I'm waiting to hear lots more to read about from you! You always make my days begin perfectly-thanks a million! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | January 10th, 2013 at 9:18 am
MARTHA---how interesting! I am pulling for Ron Johnson and JCP! I constantly monitor consumer comments on the new JCP, and 95% appear quite negative. But I love what he is attempting to do. I personally love the ad campaign he's running as well. Boy, I hope he can pull it off! Time will tell. I anxiously await your participation in the new JCP as well.
I love your comment about starting over. I am closing one location and opening another for my retail store as demographics (and I) fluctuate. I am excited. Change is good for us!
Posted by: Jonathan Brown | January 10th, 2013 at 9:39 am
I sure would have loved to have been able to attend this conference. I am looking forward to seeing the "new" JC Penny.
As a consumer, my shopping experience certainly has changed the past few years with the stores going to fewer employees to help the customer. Although I do some shopping online and by catalogue, I still do the majority of my shopping in stores. I like to "touch & feel" what I am purchasing.
I, like many others, miss your catalogue and the quality of products that you sold. But, your line at Macy's is quite good. I am drawn to your products by virtue of their quality and of course your colors are always wonderful.
Keep up the good work, Martha.
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon Weinmann | January 10th, 2013 at 9:52 am
Hi Martha,
Before I knew who Ron Johnson was, I liked him and the reason was small compared to what you might expect. I had gone to JCP one day to look at the sport shoes and as usually, I took the escalator up to the second floor. Linens had replaced the shelves where the shoes used to be and all I could think was they don’t sell sport shoes anymore. So I went downstairs to have a look at the other shoes and to my surprise, there were racks filled with sport shoes also. All I could think was hallelujah, all of the shoes are finally together in the same area – imagine that! I could never understand why some were upstairs and others were downstairs and then I found out there had been lots of changes in the store due to new management. That’s when I learned about Ron Johnson. I sent JCP an email and thanked them for what I had seen so far, mainly the shoe department but also kitchen items were right near the escalator now. I didn’t have to walk around to the other side. I also told them I was so happy that your products were finally going to be available in that store – I’d been asking clerks for years if they had any of your things and now hopefully soon, my wishes will be fulfilled.
~
I can only imagine how fired up these summits make you feel. I particularly liked the caption under Mickey Drexler’s picture where he said you must always listen to associates, customers and critics! As you know, I can be somewhat of a critic but I know you and your company listen to what we critics have to say because you say you do and I’ve seen certain results over the years. I just want to point out that being critical about anything is not a fun experience but sometimes some of us have pretty decent different ideas. Thank you for being a patient sounding board. Sometimes I say things and think afterward, ooh, Martha is going to hate me for that! But I know you don’t because you wouldn’t be the successful leader that you are if you weren’t a good listener as well as a fantastic doer. Trish
Posted by: Trish | January 10th, 2013 at 9:54 am
Martha,
Glad to hear you left the summit energized! I viewed the Steve Jobs video and it was great! The new JCPenney logo I have a whole lot of opinion about that, but I will keep to myself - uniformity is so important!
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Now to give you an update on my MEATLESS potpie adventure, it did turn out good. They looked like the photos in the book. The taste did remind me of the ones I use to eat with my grandma, so I didn't miss the chicken. On a scale of 1 to 10 I rate it a 9. I would rate it a 10, but my phyllo didn't cook all the way through. It browned on the top a lot faster. I spent about $42 dollars (without having to purchase the oil, beans, flour, and wine), but I had to buy everything else; including the ramekins we didn't own those. I made the vegetable stock from scratch. I can't seem to get out of Red Lobster or another restaurant without spending $50 (for two) and I eat out every day. So, value wise it was good.
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This was quite the funny adventure, I didn't know that the bay leafs were in the spices section, I was looking for them in produce. But heck I'm not a cook; I'm more of a boy when it comes to the kitchen and grocery shopping. I finally ate at around 9 pm last night. My mom was stemmed at me because she said I should have told her about the beans she knows those needed to be soaked/cooking or prepared earlier and she could have put those in the crockpot. Then I was trying to give her directions on what I had read in the book because I have to follow directions she knows how to cook so it was a bit comical yesterday in my house. Today, I'll try something easier I can do on my own, maybe a salad or pasta dish.
`
I usually give up meat for lent every year, so what I'll do is look at this like I'm starting lent earlier this year and go to Easter to see how much weight I've lost. I will not bore you with every meal from MEATLESS, but will give you an update on Easter of my progress.
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Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | January 10th, 2013 at 10:28 am
Happy that you left energized and I am glad that Jphnson is with Penneys now.
Good luck. The new macbook air is a joy to me and Steve Jobs left this world a hero, Thank you
Posted by: ann | January 11th, 2013 at 8:15 am
So helpful...thanks for posting. I think about these issues in life sciences and clean energy...these principles are applicable to many industries.
Posted by: Teresa Touey | January 11th, 2013 at 9:42 am
I agree with Teresa's comment! These principles can also be applied to our domestic life, too.
Our world needs to rediscover old fashioned "horse sense", and learn what "team work" really means.
We have the ability to do so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg7cgULCkCs
Posted by: Barbara Mayer | January 11th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
I love JCP and I can't wait until your products are sold there! I moved to the sticks in Michigan and JCP is one of the only stores close to me. I am a complete convert and shop there frequently now!
Posted by: Nancy | January 11th, 2013 at 4:51 pm
Thank you so much Martha for bringing us inside this event! I feel energized just after looking at your slide show. And I agree that we are not spending enough time teaching the next generation about innovation. People seem to know how to follow, but not how to lead creatively.
Posted by: aphrochic | January 12th, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Aw shucks, I was hoping that "Eloise" might get a token mention. It's impossible to think of the Plaza, especially the grand ballroom, without her.
Posted by: Karen | January 20th, 2013 at 5:16 am