Below you will find helpful and relevant articles that we carefully curate for the benefit of our B.R.A. Retail Members almost every day. Be sure to scroll through the most recent article or use the Search/Lookup feature to find topics and keywords related to articles that may help you to lower costs, increase margins or create more remarkable customer experiences.
by admin | Jan 18, 2026 | Artificial Intelligence / CHAT GPT, Brick & Mortar, News, Outdoor, Predictions, Retail Technologies, Staffing, Trade Shows
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet, and John Furner, incoming Walmart CEO, speak at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show in New York City on Sunday. Courtesy of NRF Big Show 2026 – Jason Dixson Photography Executives at NRF’s Big Show were quick to say AI can...
by admin | Jan 15, 2026 | Industry, News, Opinion, Outdoor, Predictions, Skateboard, Story Telling
The North Face Apparel and outdoors giant VF Corp is revealing more details of its growth playbooks for three of its core brands: The North Face, Vans and Timberland. The company, which recently reported a 2% rise in revenue for its second fiscal quarter,...
by admin | Jan 12, 2026 | News, Olympics, Surf
“Jaws” helped shape the global perception of great white sharks, but it shaped it all wrong. Photo: Unsplash California just had its first shark attack of 2026. As USA Today reports, a Northern California surfer experienced a traumatic shark encounter...
by admin | Jan 7, 2026 | Brick & Mortar, HR, Opinion, Resources, Sales Training
Your store manager is buried. They’re unpacking boxes at 6 AM, fixing the display that nobody else can seem to get right, covering a call-out on the register, and trying to squeeze in interviews for the third assistant manager who quit this year. Meanwhile,...
by admin | Dec 24, 2025 | Brick & Mortar, E-Commerce, Gift Cards, News, Retail Economy
The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is in full swing, and plenty of consumers have gift cards on their shopping list. Gift cards rank as the second-most popular gift this holiday season and total spending on gift cards is expected to reach $29 billion this...
by admin | Dec 22, 2025 | Apparel /Fashion, Brick & Mortar, Commercial Real Estate, Customer Experience, Industry, News, Retail Strategy
Courtesy of Pacsun 2025 marks a major milestone for the Y2K-favorite brand Pacsun: It’s the first time in 18 years that it’s increasing its store count, rather than decreasing it, the company told Modern Retail. Pacsun, which is now at just over 300 stores, opened...
by admin | Dec 17, 2025 | Brick & Mortar, Holiday, Opinion, Resources
Credit: Getty Images by Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury With holiday 2025 in full swing, retailers must ensure their technology and operations can support rising demand and higher consumer expectations. This comes at a time when mobile technology is emerging as the critical...
by admin | Dec 15, 2025 | Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty, News, Opinion, Resources, Retail Strategy
A few blocks from my home sits a small Japanese grocery store that has been in the neighborhood for years. It’s the kind of place that once felt irreplaceable—carefully sourced ingredients, shelves stocked with items I couldn’t find in mainstream supermarkets, and an...
by admin | Dec 9, 2025 | Community, Opinion, Surf Expo
Because it’s always worth the wait. Photo: Jarno Colijn//Unsplash f you added up the seconds that a good surfer actually spent riding the waves, it would amount to only the smallest fraction of an entire life.” -Ellis Avery, “The Surfer’s Secret to...
by admin | Nov 27, 2025 | Brick & Mortar, Customer Experience, Customer Service, E-Commerce, Opinion, Resources, Retail Strategy
Paths to purchase have changed significantly over the past decades, with customer journeys nearly unrecognizable compared to those of the early 2000s. With the internet at their fingertips, shoppers are more informed, connected to brands, and able to discover new...
