VM Unleashed

Read “Creating Customer Lifecycles:” Coat Paints – A Brighter Future!

Join me, Tim Radley, in “Meaning in the Retail Madness,” discussing how considerations about the product lifecycle must now be extended forwards to the customer purchase, their relationship with the product, and its disposal. The retail lifecycle must evolve into the customer lifecycle. Solutions must make more use, and more uses, of what the customer buys. Turning away from the throwaway, embracing and enjoying what we have. The terminology needs-

Discussing Visual Merchandising & Shop Design: Zara – ‘A Storyteller by Design’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the future of visual merchandising, and the changing world of physical shop spaces for both large brands and small independent retailing. Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep2 ”Shop Merchandising and Display” (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Zara. For me their name represents so much more than fast-fashion. They are restless innovators, from-

Read: “Passion Generators & End-to-End Facilitators” – The House of Vans

Join me, Tim Radley, in “Meaning in the Retail Madness,” discussing how retailing without passion is alienating consumers, and handing customer relationships to distributors. Modern retailing is so complex. It is now almost impossible to be an engaging brand & product innovator, and also best practice distributors of communication and physical stock. The game changing model involves ‘Passion Generators’ & ‘End-to-end Facilitators.’ Allowing retailers to focus on building product authority-

Discussing Visual Merchandising & Shop Design: Abercrombie & Fitch – ‘Creating Theatres for Retail’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the future of visual merchandising, and the changing world of physical shop spaces for both large brands and small independent retailing. Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep2 ”Shop Merchandising and Display” (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Abercrombie & Fitch. For me their name still stirs up magic and wonder, despite their slow-

Discussing Visual Merchandising & Shop Design: Crate & Barrel – ‘The founders of modern VM?’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the future of visual merchandising, and the changing world of physical shop spaces for both large brands and small independent retailing. Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep2 ”Shop Merchandising and Display” (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Crate & Barrel. For me their name and visual merchandising are synonymous. Visiting their famous flagship-

‘Is Brand more important than Product?’ A question for students at the London College of Fashion (LCF)

The LCF student’s collaborative challenge module is now entering the creative phase. Always a fascinating period of any project, when all of that valuable research and benchmarking needs to be translating into customer facing outputs. The students are so tech native that visual imagery and social media communication is second nature to them. It is the polar opposite to me and many of the lecturers who were initiated into retail-

Discussing Sustainability & Ethical Retailing: Timberland – ‘Local Responsibility’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the world of retail sustainability, from diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, to on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Join the free podcast now through this link…https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ua8ca-1307ed8 The podcast features a discussion on Timberland. They have a long history already as a sustainable brand, working with the environment,-

Discussing Sustainability & Ethical Retailing: Elvis & Kresse – ‘Masters of Slow Fashion’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the world of retail sustainability, from diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, to on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Join the free podcast now through this link…https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ua8ca-1307ed8 The podcast features a discussion on Elvis & Kresse. Their story is fascinating. Several years ago, they discovered that the London-

Discussing Sustainability & Ethical Retailing: LOANHOOD – Taking fashion rental by storm

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the world of retail sustainability, from diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, to on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Join the free podcast now through this link…https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ua8ca-1307ed8 The podcast features a discussion around LOANHOOD and their impact on the fashion rental market. Loanhood is a new rental brand-

Exclusive Interview with Tim Radley: “Sustainability & Ethical Retailing”

Join Tim Radley, international retail specialist, and founder of VM-Unleashed, as he chats with Louise Lally about the world of retail sustainability, diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Please click on the image link below… In this interview Tim explains and illustrates with best practice examples, the important areas that all retailers should-

Discover a ‘Five-Star Christmas: “Meaning in the Retail Madness”

“An excellent read *****” “Valuable reference for anyone in retail *****” “This book is more relevant now than ever! *****” ‘Meaning in the Retail Madness’ explains how touchpoints have replaced channels, how linear supply chains will become circular, why assortments are increasingly virtual, how physical is turning to local, and why products and shops are not necessarily made for each other anymore. It supplies a blueprint for retail’s new ‘agile-

Is pureplay just a replay of retail’s oldest mistake? ‘Dumbing down retail to distribution domination!’

So here we are, less than a couple of years after the peak of lockdown. Less than a couple of years after the stella rise of ecommerce market share, and the adoption of every app and touchpoint available to engage with digital retail and diverse home delivery services. So, here we now are, with some of the biggest names in pureplay retail suffering, losing sales and profits eroding, scrambling to-

Fast-fashion: Selling its soul for a slice of the second-hand market?

Fast-fashion: Selling its soul for a slice of the second-hand market? As the resale market grows and evolves at a pace, it is more important than ever to dig deeper behind the businesses involved, particularly if your motives for buying second-hand are to reduce the volume of new product sales, and to divert used products away from landfill. There is no shortage of choice when it comes to buying second-

A rejuvenated Marks & Spencer proving that ‘Less is commercially More!’

It has always been one of the most difficult messages to get across to buyers & merchandisers. That by reducing your number of options, you can drive more sales & profit. M&S has kindly released figures that prove exactly this. A recent reduction in womenswear options has certainly not held back sales growth. Although its womenswear range was streamlined by 5%, sales jumped 15%. Of course, it is more complicated-

Gymshark: Coming down to physical earth with a bump

I am a huge fan and advocate of Gymshark. The story behind the sportswear brand’s origins and its founder, Ben Francis, is inspiring. Everything I have ever read about his values and philosophy on leadership makes me believe that he is a compassionate, and motivational boss to work for. Above all Gymshark make excellent gym & sportswear and is a refreshing change from other available brands. So, I am a-

“Circular Storytelling & the Narrative Supply Chain”

“Circular Storytelling & the Narrative Supply Chain”Compelling reading away from the monologues of manufacturers The most cost-effective way to add genuine value to any product is through delivering an original product personality and compelling storyline! The product supply chain offers the most incredible opportunities to create rich, unique, and attractive stories around products. Yet in the clamour to manufacture huge volumes at any cost, those stories have become banal and-

Were the seeds of second-hand, vintage, and fashion rental sewn in ’70s football sub-culture?

Were the seeds of second-hand, vintage, and fashion rental sewn in ’70s football sub-culture?Check out a fascinating BBC article and exhibition in Liverpool The popularity of fashion rental and vintage re-sale is gathering pace, driven by both aesthetic and sustainable motives. A key attraction is to break away from the mainstream commercial, both in terms of destructive fast-fashionsupply chains, and the desire for individual expression in the way that we-

Exclusive Interview with Tim Radley: Retail People & today’s shopkeeper!

Join Tim Radley, international retail specialist, and founder of VM-Unleashed, as he chats with Louise Lally about the dynamic and evolving world of retail people, from boardrooms to stockrooms. Please click on the image link below… In this interview Tim explains important areas that all retailers should consider today as they re-organise their businesses, define new roles and responsibilities, remove functional silos and introduce project-based team processes; and how to-

Exclusive Interview with Tim Radley: Visual merchandising & shop design

Join Tim Radley, international retail specialist, and founder of VM-Unleashed, as he chats with Louise Lally about the future of visual merchandising, and the changing world of physical shop spaces for both large brands and small independent retailing. Please click on the image link below… In this interview Tim explains important areas that all retailers should consider when planning their shops, from the floor layout and space allocation, to grouping-

The importance of teaching my LCF students about ‘Looking-In & Looking-Out’ when researching and defining brand propositions.

My exciting project with the London College of Fashion (LCF) this Autumn is progressing well. The student groups have been matched with young designers, part of the alumni at LCF. The Collaborative Challenge for the students is to work with their designers and evolve these fledgling businesses into complete market propositions with commercial channel strategies, target customer profiling, and with brand identities brought to glorious life with physical shop visualisations,-