Podcast
IADS Retail Park
Hosted by International Association of Department Stores - IADS · EN
🦖 Welcome to IADS Retail Park—where retail giants evolve or go extinct. Department stores get dismissed as dinosaurs all the time. But the best ones aren't fossils, they're transforming faster than most people realise. The IADS Retail Park delivers exclusive insights, transformation strategies, and expert analysis from the International Association of Department Stores. Built for executives and strategists who need actionable takeaways without the fluff.
Because let's be honest: in retail today, you're either adapting or you're already behind.
iads.substack.com
iads.substack.com
21episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Everlane & Shein: When opposites collide
1w ago00:18:00Tap to summarizeEverlane sold to Shein for $100 million in May 2026 — a brand once valued at $550–600M, with $90M in debt and common shareholders left with nothing. Host Maya wrote this week's Exclusive, so Selvane steps in to ask the questions. 📲Click here to read the full exclusive!Find more interesting reads on IADS Exclusive Insights on Substack. Follow us on LinkedIn and visit iads.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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Beyond the hype: How retailers are actually using the metaverse
2w ago00:09:19Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The IADS Retail Park 🎧, Maya and Anchita explore the Metaverse beyond the buzz. ✨ What do Demain Beauty, L’Oréal, and luxury pioneers have in common? They’re experimenting with virtual experiences that educate, engage, and convert. 🛍️ From 75% memory retention through gamification to digital twins that reshape store planning, our hosts unpack the real business case for immersive retail. Learn how €200K and 7 months built a metaverse that blends commerce and learning—and what separates hype from ROI. 🎮 Want all the case studies and expert insight? 👉 Click here to unlock full Exclusive for deeper dives and real-world examples! 🔗 For updates and more can’t-miss content, follow us on LinkedIn at International Association of Department Stores – I.A.D.S., explore our Substack, or visit www.iads.org for extra resources and the full article. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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When nobody's watching: Why cultural belonging is replacing digital persuasion
2w ago00:11:20Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the IADS Retail Park 🎙️, Maya sits down with Anchita, Head of Analysis and Prospectives at I.A.D.S. and author of this week’s exclusive, to examine why the advertising infrastructure retail built over the last decade is hitting a structural ceiling 📱. Based on👉 IADS Exclusive: The End of the Nudge by Anchita Ranka.For more insights and updates, follow us on LinkedIn at International Association of Department Stores - IADS, check out our Substack, visit our website at www.IADS.org for additional resources, and learn more here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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The layer nobody talks about — until It breaks
2w ago00:07:49Tap to summarizeThey're not in the keynotes. They're not in the strategy decks. But when a retail transformation actually lands — when AI gets adopted, when a store team holds together under pressure, when corporate strategy turns into something a frontline team can actually use — there's almost always a middle manager making it happen. In this episode, Maya sits down with Christine, to unpack why middle managers are retail's most underestimated asset — and what happens when you stop investing in them.👉 Read the full exclusive here !For more insights and updates, follow us on LinkedIn at International Association of Department Stores - IADS, check out our Substack, visit our website at www.iads.org for additional resources, and learn more here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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The 2024 IADS Academy: AI Readiness for Department Stores
2w ago00:09:58Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The I.A.D.S. Retail Park 🎧, Maya and Christine, explore the 2024 IADS Academy’s work on AI decision-making for retailers. A cohort of next-gen executives tackled “machine customers,” built the AIRI readiness framework, and created Lola — a retail-specific AI chatbot. 🤖 👉 Read the full exclusive here !For more insights and updates, follow us on LinkedIn at International Association of Department Stores - IADS, check out our Substack, visit our website at www.iads.org for additional resources, and learn more here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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40,000 people, 1,000 exhibitors, and one question: Is any of this real?
3w ago00:09:26Tap to summarizeEvery January, retail's biggest names descend on New York for the NRF Big Show 🎙️ — and 2025 was reportedly a record edition: 40,000 attendees, 1,000 exhibitors, and more AI claims than you could count. In this episode, Maya sits down with Selvane, who was on the floor and in the rooms. They cut through the noise together — from agentic AI and "fantailing" to Target's culture strategy, Macy's bold transformation, and what Foot Locker's 50th anniversary says about where retail is actually heading 🌊.👉 Read the full exclusive here !For more insights and updates, follow us on LinkedIn at International Association of Department Stores - IADS, check out our Substack, visit our website at www.iads.org for additional resources, and learn more here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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How Boyner turned AI readiness into a 30% efficiency gain
3w ago00:10:30Tap to summarizeZara has closed 600+ stores since 2019—but total selling space has grown. Their new flagships look like "monobrand department stores" with local architecture, cafés, and luxury-grade design. What can department stores learn from this transformation? Maya and Selvane explore the "fewer, larger, better" strategy, the experience trap, and where Zara's limits create opportunity for department stores. 🏬🌍👉Click here to read the full exclusive. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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The $10 trillion management problem
3w ago00:11:52Tap to summarizeIn this episode of IADS Retail Park 🎙️, Maya and Selvane, Managing Director of IADS, dissect this week's exclusive on the $10 trillion cost of manager disengagement. Drawing on Gallup's 2025 and 2026 State of the Global Workplace reports, Maya unpacks why $40 billion in enterprise AI investment is producing near-zero returns — and why both failures trace to the same layer. ➡️Click here to read the full Exclusive!For more insights and updates, follow us on LinkedIn at International Association of Department Stores - IADS, check out our Substack, visit our website at www.iads.org for additional resources, and learn more here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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Two businesses, one store: Why omnichannel still hasn't solved its own architecture
May 2700:11:03Tap to summarizeDepartment stores have run two business models simultaneously for over fifteen years. The result is a financial architecture that punishes omnichannel behaviour from the inside out. In this episode, Maya and Selvane, unpack why the bottleneck was never technological, what a 7–10% ship-from-store cancellation rate reveals about incentive structures, and how the omni-cluster model redefines what the store is actually for 🏛️.➡️Click here to dive even further into this week’s IADS Exclusive: The Next Chapter of Omnichannel This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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One door: How single-location department stores defy retail expansion logic
May 2000:14:12Tap to summarizeWhat does it take to build a retail empire on a single address? Maya and Christine examine the strategic logic behind the world's most iconic single-location department stores. From Royal Navy ship timbers to circus performances after closing hours, this episode explores why singularity can be more defensible than scale—and what La Samaritaine's €750 million lesson reveals about when it fails.🔗 Click here to read the full exclusive!Stay connected: Follow us on LinkedIn · Read our latest on Substack · Explore www.iads.org This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iads.substack.com/subscribe
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