Commerce Riff with Sri & PVSB - June 8, 2026

PVSB 0:01

It's June 9th, 2026, and this is the Commerce Riff, brought to you by the CPG guys. Ten minutes of the news stories that matter in commerce this week. I am, of course, your co-host, PVSP. I'm joined, as always, by Papa Raj, the father of Pop Stars, co-founder of Think Blue Consulting.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Shree, what's going on with you? Warming up, getting excited for our big trip to France in about three weeks. And uh that's the culmination of a lot of hard work. CPGGaz are hosting everything from happy hour breakfast sessions, panel sessions. To get to know more, just go to www.cpgguz.com, check out our LinkedIn page. You know, you have to register. We're happy to see you. I can get in touch with Peter or me, Sri at CPGGaz.com or PVSPHSri at CPGGaz.com. Now, prior to that, at the time this episode is playing, we're at Nielsen IQC 360. We are the closing keynote with Liz Buchanan, the North America president. That will be a podcast in the future. So you you can you have lots to look forward to when it comes to content. And of course, we're right bang in the middle of a C-suite series. So, Peter, what can I say, man?

PVSB 1:08

It's just exciting times. And before you know it, we'll be up in Ithaca for the Cornell OmniCommerce Leadership Program, the last week of July. Sri, that's going to be a very exciting program. Everybody wants to be a part of it. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Very limited seats left.

PVSB 1:22

We're almost packed out. All right, let's kick things off with a story that's the Equal Parts brand strategy and cultural tightrope walking, because with America's 250th birthday on the horizon, the marketing world is scrambling to figure out how to show up for the semi-quincentennial. That's a good term we should all get used to. Last summer, a record low 58% of U.S. adults described themselves as extremely or very proud to be American, down nine points from the prior year and nearly 30 points from when Gallup first asked a question in 2001. That's the backdrop against which brands are now trying to plant a flag, literally and figuratively, ahead of the 4th of July. Now, some brands have earned the right to be in this conversation. Jeep, which has held the top spot in Brand Keys' annual survey for most patriotic brands since its launch in 2001, is leaning in hard through its parent company, Stellanis, exclusive automotive partnership with the nonpartisan America 250 Commission. The campaign pairs a special edition Wrangler, red, white, and blue, Captain America Shield on the spare tire, with Marvel's Captain America, a character born the same year, 1941, that the Jeep vehicle went into production. That's not a bandwagon play. That's earned brand equity doing work, Shree. On the food and beverage side, Clorox's portfolio brands, Hidden Valley Rant, Kingsford, Glad, and Burksby's have all rolled out efforts spanning limited edition packaging, retail partnerships, and paid search. And notably, Coca-Cola is remaking its iconic 1971 hilltop ad, I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company. Around the theme of buying America a Coke, with a goal of generating 250,000 volunteer hours tied to food insecurity, disaster relief, and youth empowerment. Here's the CBG strategic lens. The brands winning this moment aren't the ones waving the biggest flag. They're the ones who've made the smartest connection between what brands actually stand for and what the occasion means to consumers. As one brand consultant put it, the winning approach is about, quote, finding the balance between nostalgia and bringing nostalgia forward in a modern way that allows it to be inclusive of what America stands for today, unquote. Question for CBG and retail brands who haven't yet committed is what is your authentic entry point into this moment? Because consumers and retailers are watching. The difference between a brand that belongs in the conversation and one that's just riding the slipstream is becoming very easy to spot. Over to you, Shri.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

All right, Peter. Let's head from Middle America, Main Street, all the way to the East Coast Hudson River, and that is Harold Square, New York, because Macy's just posted Q on 2026 results, and it's a week worth talking about. Comparable sales growth at 3%, strongest first quarter performance in about four years, raised its full-year guidance on the back of it. Net sales rose to $4.68 billion for the quarter ended May 2nd. Net income came in at $63 million, a meaningful step up from $38 million a year ago. Warms my heart, Peter, because Macy's is one of those stores of our generation in store, is what I want to add. But Macy's did a pretty good job of also becoming omnichannel, which is certainly paying off to the day. The standout performer was Bloomingdales, where comparable sales surged 10.2% record for the division's first quarter results and its seventh consecutive quarter of growth. CEO Tony Spring credited a combination of buzzy brand assortment, a fun factor unique in the luxury landscape. And I want to be direct about this. The bank of bankruptcy of Rival Sachs Fifth Avenue, which created a meaningful opening in the luxury department store market, certainly helps. The Macy's namesake banner delivered 1.6% comparable sales growth, and Blue Mercury added another 6.4%. For the full year, the company now expects comparable sales to grow between half a percent and 1.2%, compared to previous outlook of down half a percent to up half a percent. Five consecutive quarters are better than expected results indeed, Peter. That's the headline for CEO Tony Springs' so-called bold new chapter turnaround plan. Very early, it seems to be working. He's redirecting resources towards luxury nameplates, higher potential store locations while exiting weaker ones. Notably, the quarter wasn't without headwinds. Management called out an estimated four cents tariff drag on earnings, but they lifted guidance anyway, citing confidence and underlying momentum of the business. For CPG brands and retail media partners, here's what we think. Macy's Media Network got a shutout, shout out of the earnings call. Bloomingdale's is the luxury engine. It's growing. Department store that was on life support three years ago is now quarter by quarter, quietly becoming a more interesting commerce partner. We'll be watching the trajectory, C Fuelia and the CPG guys. And Peter, I shudder to think this is the story of the have and have nots further separating economic division in America, luxury delivering for Macy's. Over to you, Peter.

PVSB 6:38

Yeah, Sri. We should give a shout-out to Michael Kranz at Macy's Media Network. He was on our podcast late last year, and he's done such a tremendous job. I think Pentalip has been very much involved in that. So congratulations to both of them on those numbers. And I'll tell you, I was walking out of the Palmer House on Thursday after my opening keynote, and I walked up State Street to pick something up at Target, and I walked by the empty sacks off fifth store. And it was a little heartbreaking. So it's nice to see as to you, to you, to your point, a retailer from our era, Macy's, really starting to shine a little bit more. And uh, as for Bloomingdale's numbers, they must have sold a lot of Bloomies. All right, now I want to take our listeners north of the border to my home and native land for a story that is near and dear to my heart because Zellers is back. Pinky's up, yes. After its soft launch in Edmonton last fall, the iconic Canadian retailer was returning to Ontario with two stores, one opening June 18th in Toronto's North York neighborhood at 80 Orphus Road, a standalone 25,000 square foot location. And the second coming to Windsor's Tecumseh this July. For those of you who don't remember Zellers, they were a brand that ultimately got bought out by Target in its short-lived entry into Canada. And when they pulled out, there was nothing left to remind them of that. And Canada's also recently suffered the loss of the iconic Hudson Bay Company. So Zellers 3.0 strategy reimagines the classic department store through a smaller format, highly curated retail experience spanning 20 to 50,000 square feet, apparel accessories, home and seasonal at its core, with grocery being layered in for the first time. Interesting. We're talking flavored popcorn, candies, international chips, better-for-you snacks, grab and go beverages, and a curated Italian grocery assortment from the Gigi brand, including pasta sauces, olives, and oils, described as part of a broader focus to expand food, snack, and confectionery offerings in a more significant way over time. The Edmonton pilot had been informative. Home decor emerged as a standout category. The brand is adding Maxwell and Williams, Casso D'Amani, and Home Linens under Rachel Roy. Tahari and Chaps and the apparel side, Adidas is among the latest brand editions with NFL, NHL, Dickies, Von Dutch, and Juicy Couture coming shortly after the Ontario openings. And yes, Zeddy's back. The iconic bear mascot returns to summer with a national partnership with pediatric oncology camps tied to the relaunch. That's brand purpose with Real Roots in the community, Shri. The CBG lens here. Well, Zellers is essentially field testing a new format for value-oriented, curated retail in Canada at a moment when consumers are under real financial pressure and hungry for discovery. The food expansion is the tell, right? It signals that this is not a nostalgia play. It's a genuine attempt to build a differentiated, small format retail model. CBG brands with Canadian footprint should be watching the category list closely. The shelf is being built right now. Should we close this out, would you?

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Every time you talk about something Canada, I'm reminded we need to do more. It is truly North America. We need to talk to more Canadians. We need to talk to more retailers over there and see what we can learn. We got a lot of listeners in Canada. Let's close this week on something that's going to actually matter to every brand marketer listening. It cuts right to the core of how we think about consumer relationships in the age of AI. New research from the agency Gail is out this week under the title of The Preference Economy. And it has some findings that could actually stop you in your tracks. Over half of surveyed consumers, 56%, are now comfortable delegating the entirety of their comms with a brand through AI. Nearly one-third of Audi instructed an AI assistant to prioritize certain brands over others. Let's land for a quick second, Peter. KLCO Andrew Noel put it bluntly, they're saying, I will just trust the LLM to be my heavy lifter and filter between me and a brand. And he sees the trajectory as steep. In the next two or three years, 60 to 70% of consumers are expected to be setting brand preferences directly in the AI assistance. This compounds an already fragile loyalty landscape. The average consumer is enrolled in four to six loyalty programs, but most of them are ghost members. Enroll, not engaged. I have so many, Peter, that I'm a ghost member of, especially grocery. Among millennials and Gen Z, 61% of those aged 25 to 34 have abandoned a brand for a competitor's because of a superior loyalty experience. How often do you and I tell this story on the CPT guard? Sometimes I feel like merchandising doesn't even listen. Still do it their old way. As gas is the frequent top of card rewards, like everybody has the same blueprint. So as a shopper, who cares? That happens even when the actual rewards from the competitors' programs are worse, which is bizarre. The prescription from Grail, double down on first party data, uh-huh. Invest in community as a differentiator. Understand that strategies vary by category. A QSR needs a different approach than a big box retailer. But the common thread is still targeting the same household, and that is the consumer. Whether through social listening, in IELT research, or genuine community management critically, treat loyalty as a recurring investment, not a one-time discount mechanic that's bam bam done. Our take on the CPG guys, if AI is going to be the intermediary to the relationship between your brand and your consumer, the only way you can stay relevant is to have earned a preference signal that the consumer's already chosen to encode. That means the work of brand building, loyalty, and community doesn't get easier in an AI world. It gets much more urgent than it's ever been. The brand that matters most to consumers are the brands that will survive the filter. Please build accordingly. Bring it home, please.

PVSB 12:40

That's a wrap of this week's Commerce Riff. Before we go, make sure you've caught up on our most recent episode of the CPG Guys featuring Matt Gregory, Chief Customer Officer at Unilever. It's a conversation you're not going to want to miss, and don't miss the upcoming ones. We've got Doug Vandevelde, the Chief Growth Officer at WK Kellogg. We have got Chris Peterson, the CEO of Newell Brands, and of course, big episode 600. We have got our friend Tony Rogers, the Chief Marketing Officer of Dollar General Plus, Christine Gambino, CEO of Omni, and uh we've got the head of Walmart Plus joining us. So yeah, if any of these sparked a thought, drop it in the comments, send us an email, we read it all. And if you're not already following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, well, now is the time. We'll see you next week, everyone.