Americas Apparel Producers Network’s Post

With succession as one of the perennial weaknesses of corporate governance, the approach of Levi Strauss & Co. is notable — as is the approach of Michelle Gass to take a demotion on the road to succeeding to CEO. It’s a great leadership lesson company- and career-wise.

Accelerating the growth of the 170-year old Levi’s Brand   One of the key challenges facing iconic retail brands is maintaining relevance in a contemporary market. As decades pass and generations of consumers evolve, retail leaders are constantly seeking to understand their new customer.     This was a key challenge for Michelle Gass who joined Levi Strauss & Co. in early 2023, after a successful career with Kohl’s as the company’s CEO. Speaking for the first time since joining the 170-year-old iconic brand, Michelle shared how she plans to accelerate growth by sharpening the focus of the current strategies to lean into the power of the Levi’s brand. Her focus to position Levi’s as the destination for the ‘denim lifestyle’ across all channels, and fuel diversification across international markets. Michelle shared the stage with Matthew Shay is president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. Michelle offered five key learning's for retail executives. Want to know more? Connect with Australian Retailers Association (ARA) who will be sharing content and insights across the week. #retail #retailers #nrf2024 #Levis #customers #consumers Paul Zahra

Very creative and clever.

how can fit with the building design. the architects will thanks for it :)

As your brand greets target customers in their increasingly non linear purchase journeys at different touch points make sure those touch points positively disrupt, delight and keep those target shoppers going in the right direction of travel. Lovely touch point example here. Levis’Store #retailtouchpoints #TopRetailExpert

What's New to TheStreet... 👖 Levi Strauss Lowers Revenue Outlook, Explores Sale of Dockers 👀 Levi Strauss is adjusting its focus, cutting its revenue outlook for the year and once again exploring the sale of its Dockers brand. CEO Michelle Gass is driving efforts to center the company on its iconic Levi's brand. 📉 What do you think of this strategic shift? Share your thoughts below!👇🏻✨ 👉🏻Follow New To The Street for more! #levistrauss #dockers #stockmarket #retailnews #innovation #businessupdate #businessnews #business #news #newtothestreet

What's New to TheStreet... 👖 Levi Strauss Lowers Revenue Outlook, Explores Sale of Dockers 👀 Levi Strauss is adjusting its focus, cutting its revenue outlook for the year and once again exploring the sale of its Dockers brand. CEO Michelle Gass is driving efforts to center the company on its iconic Levi's brand. 📉 What do you think of this strategic shift? Share your thoughts below!👇🏻✨ 👉🏻Follow New To The Street for more! #levistrauss #dockers #stockmarket #retailnews #innovation #businessupdate #businessnews #business #news #newtothestreet

Levi Strauss's decision to reduce its workforce, even in the face of rising sales, underlines the complex challenges and opportunities that retailers face today. It highlights the critical need for agility, innovation, and efficiency in an increasingly competitive and digitally-driven market. Such strategic moves not only impact the companies directly involved but also set precedents and benchmarks for the entire sector, influencing future strategies, operational models, and market dynamics. This shake-up could prompt other retailers to reevaluate their own strategies, leading to further changes across the industry. https://lnkd.in/g6HpckjY

🪜 Taking a step sideways or backwards on the “corporate ladder?” The article below tells the story of Michelle Gass, the incoming CEO of Levi Strauss, who first took a demotion to join the company. She had previously been the CEO of Kohl’s, a Fortune 500 company, but left to join Levi Strauss as its President with no guarantee she would get the top job. It’s a lesson in humility, intelligence, confidence, and the ability to see the big picture. And it’s an interesting, real-life example of how the world works. 📏 Oftentimes, people view their careers as linear voyages—straight lines, clear progression, the proverbial “corporate ladder.” The real world—the modern world—doesn’t look like this. 📈 The truth is that career progression is a wavy, squiggly line that has dips, curves, turns, sharp turns, forks in the road, detours, and sometimes even u-turns. Yes, the long arc of history is that your career progression (hopefully) veers upward and, from a distance, may look like a straight line over the course of 40+ years, but every part of the journey will have its twists and turns. Our careers are that way because life is that way. We don’t grow in a linear fashion. We don’t get wiser simply because we get older. We grow because we learn… because we take a path and then choose a different path, try something but then choose to try another. We try different types of clothes, different hair styles, different foods… we change majors in college, we date different types of people, we live in different cities… we make mistakes. We learn. We adapt. We take risks. Our careers are no different. Like life, success in one’s career is about growth. It’s about experiences and opportunities that prepare you for the next challenge, and the challenge after that. And sometimes, that means taking a step backwards to ultimately take a step forward.

Retail store associates have tremendous skills that can be invaluable in the corporate office. Connecting products to customers while having a front row seat into how the customer is evolving is a huge asset. Retailers should invest in their frontline by training them on the numbers. Sales associates have a great foundation and could make make great buyers. Visual merchants have the skills to execute the merchandising strategy but may need more exposure to selling and the ROI of a product assortment. Corporate must also spend time with customers selling and styling. It helps merchants make better assortment decisions by getting real-time feedback on buys. I started on the shop floor and it’s the best training I had! As a merchant, I spent hours selling and helping customers. It goes both ways. Sheena Butler-Young it’s always great to chat with you and thank you for including my comments. #retail #retailnews #merchandising #sales #stores