Brick & Mortar Retail Is Changing: How Brands Should Adapt - Episode 106
INTERVIEW WITH ANNE MEZZENGA & CHRIS WALTON FROM OMNI TALK
DESCRIPTION
Today we are joined by Anne Mezzenga and Chris Walton, the co-CEOs of Omni Talk, and the co-founders of Third Haus, which is a co-working space in a retail lab in Minneapolis. Anne and Chris are really putting a lot out into the world, being involved in many different retail projects, both virtual, and locally in Minneapolis. In today's episode, we discuss how brick and mortar retail is changing, and how brands should adapt.
Chris has a unique background, with a wide range of experience in retail spanning twenty years. He started his career at The Gap, followed by several years at Target, where he did many different jobs, including store merchandising and running Target stores. He also spent time as the Vice-President in charge of home furnishings for Target.Com.
Before meeting Chris, Anne's background was mostly in the creative side of marketing. She started her career in the news, as an investigative reporter, and then moved on to advertising, where she worked for several marketing agencies in Minneapolis. Her focus was on retail advertising because Minneapolis has a great history of retailing and there are a large number of good retailers there. She later joined Target's internal agency.
Anne and Chris met through their building of a Proof of Concept for what later became the Target Store of the Future Project. Tune in today, to find out why Kiri, Anne, and Chris all agree that retail is not dying.
“If you can provide an experience around a one-stop-shop atmosphere, it gives people more economy of their time.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Chris explains what the Target Store of the Future was all about.
Chris explains why he and Anne have such a good understanding of what works and what doesn't work, in terms of scalability.
How their company, Red Archer Retail was formed.
How Omni Talk was started, and what they do there.
Third Haus is meant to be a physical extension of their online community.
Third Haus could be the first co-working place specifically for the retail and CPG industry.
Chris explains why retail is not dying.
How the retail pie is set to be broken up in the future.
Some themes that have emerged around who is likely to survive, going forward into the future.
Why it's so much harder to transform if you're an existing operation, that if you start fresh, from the ground up.
Figuring out what stores and retailers are going to have to do to to get people into their brick and mortar stores.
Approaching brick and mortar businesses with a data-first mindset is becoming very important.
Retail is not dying but it is changing.
What brands are potentially missing if they don't continue to invest in brick and mortar retail relationships and distribution.
Some information about how millennials shop around discovery.
“I don’t think that retail is dying but we’re going through a transformation.”
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Learn more about Omni Talk
Connect with Anne
Connect with Chris
Learn more about Third Haus