Bankruptcy and the Retail Merry Go Round
Retail Brew updated their people traacker whilst Retail Dive, tbheir bankruptcy filing reports. Good reading on a Monday. Leave the heavy stuff to me, sure. But it does make for interesting reading and also proof you can make anything a stat.
Bankruptcies:
Several bankrupt retailers were owned or heavily backed by private equity, leading to high debt loads and financial fragility. This is not so much news as it is a cautionary tale.
Brick‑and‑mortar-heavy formats without strong online sales were repeatedly hit the hardest, especially in home goods, crafts, and fashion sectors (e.g. Tuesday Morning, Jo‑Ann, Party City).
Leadership decisions such as share buybacks added unsustainable debt, often cited as a key cause of failure.
Debt-financed overexpansion compounded by failure to modernize made once-strong retailers vulnerable as foot traffic declined, online soared.
Interesting stuff on the people side - thanks Retail Brew - of the roles talked about - linking the above to the below.
Since 2017, retail bankruptcies haven’t been random. They’ve been a slow-motion car crash of missed pivots and digital denial. Gymboree and Payless? Two-time losers. Great at shoes, terrible at strategy.
75% of execs appointed during this time had deep category expertise. Know what they didn’t have? outside experience. Should non category experience be looked at more in modern commerce?
In June 2025, only 17% of retail execs moved sideways into the same gig elsewhere. 25% climbed the ladder internally. And the rest? Mostly familiar faces from the same dusty aisle.
So yes, we’re still playing it safe, but every so often, someone gets a golden ticket without having to switch categories, cities, or LinkedIn profile headers. Progress?
Most interesting of all - thanks for the reminder Hendrik Laubscher.
DTC Loves a CPG Daddy
Direct-to-consumer brands, once allergic to anything vaguely corporate, are now hiring CPG veterans like they’re going out of style.
Operations, logistics, omnichannel, you name it, DTC is finally admitting:
“Hey, maybe that toothpaste guy knows a thing or two about scaling physical product.” Casper. Harry’s. Pretty much anyone who’s realised VC vibes don’t pay for inventory.
Retail still values category insiders.
That’s clear.
But where is the real point of difference?
It's happening when someone walks in and doesn’t know the sacred cows, or better yet, brings barbecue sauce.
The future of retail leadership isn’t about who knows the planogram. It’s about who has the guts to tear it up and start again.
Success Often Comes From Outside the Category:
Notable turnarounds, like Angela Ahrendts at Burberry, and Rosalind Brewer at Walgreens, were led by executives who brought fresh thinking from different sectors.
These leaders didn’t just rely on category knowledge;
they leveraged
adaptability,
vision,
and a willingness to challenge assumptions.