What's Changed and What Does the Future Hold for Retail with Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender

Release Date: 04/20/2021

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

Stories from David & Adam Blumenthal covering 144 years and five generations of an iconic yarn brand in the creative industry. From how it got its name to what keeps it strong and growing. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Lion Brand has been around for 144 years Lion Brand was the sole supplier of yarn to Target for many years up until Target discontinued the category Lion Brand has been on the web longer than Google The key to keeping the business within the family and successful is that no family member is forced to be a part of the company. Every member of the Blumenthal family that has worked for...

Revisit Servant Leadership and Company Culture with Jim Iyoob

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

When your company has a Dean of Leadership Development and twelve Character Commitments, you know they take servant leadership seriously. , Chief Customer Officer of , shares the culture that began with a vision “to make a remarkable difference for each other” — clients, team members, and community. KEY TAKEAWAYS Etech is an outsourced contact center that has organically grown from 400 to 3500 employees that focuses on making a remarkable difference for their customers Continuous growth and training are essential for all levels of employees Servant leadership comes...

A look back at how Happy Customers + Happy Employees = Healthy Business

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

Retail authority shares his philosophy on how Happy Customers + Happy Employees always leads to a Healthy Business [Podcast first published November 2021] KEY TAKEAWAYS Happy Customers + Happy Employees = Healthy Business If you reduce employee turn 20% you increase profits by more than 20% Happy employees make Happy customers AVID Insights creates a Health ID score to measure the level of satisfaction and engagement of both employees and customers. Employee engagement is the #1 driver of customer satisfaction. 95% of products are developed with ZERO research - a huge mistake! Key areas to...

Taking a Look Back at How to Create Happy Employees Who Create a Happy World

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

, retired CEO of WD-40, is this amazing combination of a confident leader and a very humble servant who has led his tribe very well. Although he was in the oil products business, in this episode we talk about a lot of things that have nothing to do with oil but everything to do with how to grow your business and grow your people. [Podcast first published May 2021] KEY TAKEAWAYS 70% of people who go to work everyday are disengaged Aristotle - “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” From Ken Blanchard’s class at University of San Diego in the Masters of Leadership program,...

ETech’s commitment to servant leadership for the next generation of leaders

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

As Dean of Global Leadership Development, Melissa Wood spearheads all learning and development business-building programs for . She shares insights into the next generation of leaders and how you can build your personal leadership development program. KEY TAKEAWAYS John Maxwell had a tremendous influence on Etech and Melissa ever since he spoke at an Etech company event. Etech is more than willing to invest in leadership development tools to produce the next generation of leaders. Melissa’s passion is working with people one on one and helping develop their leadership skills. Lessons...

Purpose and Insights from David and Adam Blumenthal

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

Creating a more colorful, connected, comforting and caring world with yarn. KEY TAKEAWAYS Lion Brand has an amazing Purpose Statement with four key words Colorful Lion Brand produces high-quality, uniquely colored yarn that stands above the competition Connected Lion Brand stays connected to the craft and the community that the craft creates Comforting Knitting gives people comfort and stress relief Lion Brand employees feel comfortable and supported working for the company Caring Lion Brand puts lots of care behind every decision they make, products they produce, and...

Producing the Next Generation of Leaders with Melissa Woods

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

When employees and leaders choose to share their talent with your company, give them opportunities on their journey. Melissa Wood shares the 12 character commitments of culture and the 5 Pillars of Education to produce the next generation of leaders. KEY TAKEAWAYS Etech has 12 character commitments for their company culture Humility Integrity Positive influence Communication Creativity Courage Accountability Teamwork Valuing people Adaptability Teachability Vision Etech has 5 Pillars of Education to help with ongoing learning and producing the next generation of leaders Aspiring Leader ...

The social impact and customer loyalty inspired by yarn

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

A comment on the Tonight Show leads to a 30-year partnership with Vanna White. The mindset of giving back and making a difference has led to #HATNOTHATE, donations to charities like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a wider spectrum of skin tones (Skein Tones), and sustainability. KEY TAKEAWAYS Lion Brand has stayed in the family because family members like Adam have wanted to come back and work for the family business Lion Brand Yarn was selected as the outstanding family business in New Jersey Vanna White was a customer of Lion Brand’s and talked about knitting on Johnny Carson....

Melissa Wood turns the table and interviews Clint

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

Melissa Wood turns the table and interviews Clint about his WHY and his passion for servant leadership. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Melissa Wood flips the interview on Clint and interviews him for a few minutes Clint talks about the influence his Dad had on teaching him about Servant Leadership starting with listening to cassette tapes of Zig Ziegler Clint also learned Servant Leadership from many of his football coaches in high school and college Clint has also been influenced by Garry Ridge, outgoing CEO of WD-40, and his principles of Servant Leadership and Tribe Culture Melissa is similar to Clint...

h+h americas and Darrin Stern

Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear

If you make a living in the fiber arts, whether it's a side gig, full-time gig, small store, mega store or multinational store, h+h americas 2022 is the place to be. h+h americas will become the U.S. based sister event of the German h+h cologne, the world’s leading trade fair for the handicrafts industry. Starting in 2022, h+h americas will take place every June in the Chicagoland area. h+h americas June 22 - 24, 2022 Chicago, Illinois Donald E. Stephens Convention & Conference Center in Rosemont The event is open to anyone who makes a living in fiber arts, no matter what background...

More Episodes

Consumer anthropologists, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, discuss their watershed moments and how the pandemic has changed the retail landscape for the better. Despite the rise of eCommerce, Brick & Mortar is here to stay.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We are at a fork in the road moment for many businesses right now.
Another fork in the road in retail was when Big Box retail entered the US retail landscape, especially for small town retailers. It required a shift in thinking.
Stores are living organisms — constantly changing.
You think you’re in control of your business and of your life — you’re not!
The pandemic has forced all of us to rethink who we are, what we do, and how we do it. It will make all of us better in many ways.
This is not the “new normal.” It’s the “now normal.”
Future of retail:

- Once an online retailer hit’s a certain plateau, it is too expensive for them to grow sales online without a brick and mortar platform.
- Visiting a store is the “icing on the cake” for customers.
- Buy Online Pickup In Store will be a large driver for brick and mortar.
- Shopping is social - that will never go away.
- People are looking for experience, and for many products they want to touch and feel things.
How is the consumer changing?

- Customers have always held the cards, but since COVID they hold every single card.
- Retailers have to figure out how to engage them and keep them loyal.
- Where consumers go will depend on what the retailer does to attract them - BOPIS, curbside pickup, and other conveniences, as well as how the store keeps them safe.

To contact Rich and Georganne, you can reach them at [email protected]. Or find them on LinkedIn at Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender.

If you'd like to be a guest on the podcast, reach out to Clint O’Rear at [email protected].

Learn how Clint and his team at Creative Sales Consulting connect suppliers & retailers in the creative arts industries to build stronger relationships and strategic sales growth, in order to bring joy to consumers through artistic creative and decorative products.

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Music:

"Carpe Diem" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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