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Suzy Davidkhanian (00:01):

Take your brand to new heights with in flight advertising powered by Viasat ads. High engagement formats, targeted delivery, and self-service tracking make it simple. Reach millions of travelers across leading airlines in a premium, captive environment. Join their journey with Viasat ads. Hi, everyone. Today is Wednesday, December 24th. Welcome to Re-imagining Retail, an eMarketer podcast made possible by Viasat ads. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives.

(00:34):

I'm your host, Suzy David Canyon. On today's episode, we're closing out the year with our 2025 Retail Awards, our annual look at the move, strategies, and ideas that truly shaped retail this year. It's our year-end retailer rankings with a little holiday sparkle. So we have five categories this year, from collab of the year to AI Power Move, and a few of the nominations may surprise you. These are the retailers and brands that left a mark on 2025, the ones that sparked conversations, shifted momentum, or quietly raised the bar. Joining me today, we have analyst Arielle Feger. Hey, Arielle.

Arielle Feger (01:11):

Hey, Suzy. Happy to be here.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:13):

So glad that you're here too, analyst Rachel Wolff.

Rachel Wolff (01:16):

Hey, Suzy. Excited for this one.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:18):

Me too, and senior analyst Blake Droesch. Hey, Blake.

Blake Droesch (01:21):

Hey, Suzy. Good to be back.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:23):

Thanks for joining us. Okay, so before we get started with our retail awards, let me quickly walk everyone through how this is going to work. The committee, Arielle, Becky, Emmy, and I pulled together our award categories for 2025, looking across both the headline grabbers and the quieter retail moves that really mattered this year. Then, we asked our guests to come up with one nominee for each category. They'll take turns making their case with why their pick deserves to win, and after we hear all the arguments, I'll crown the winner, so let's get started. Our first award is the Must Visit Store of the Year. As you can imagine, this is the store that sets the bar high for experience, execution, or just plain cultural impact. The place everyone in retail had to go see in person., So let's start with you, Arielle. What do you have?

Arielle Feger (02:14):

So, my pick is Netflix House at the King of Prussia Mall in Philadelphia. I picked it, because it's not just a store. It's got theater, it's got a restaurant, it's got photo ops, and I think it's really just raising the bar for experiential retail.

Suzy Davidkhanian (02:30):

Love it. Everybody knows how I'm going to vote already. Rachel, what's your pick?

Rachel Wolff (02:35):

So, my pick is TJ Maxx, and I'm going purely based on execution. I mean, they're firing on all cylinders. They're using store closures to grow their footprint. They have all these incredible inventory buying opportunities, and they're just getting more shoppers to stores.

Suzy Davidkhanian (02:49):

And Blake, I wasn't expecting this one either.

Blake Droesch (02:52):

Yeah. I'm going with the Ralph Lauren flagship on the Upper East Side, because if we're talking strictly cultural impact, there's so much buzz right now about the Ralph Lauren Christmas, and it seems like it's impacting sort of every segment of shoppers, not just the highbrow. And I think that the, I mean, I'm biased. I live in New York, but it's crowded year round, and it really is sort of capturing the moment and sort of an embodiment of that movement right now.

Suzy Davidkhanian (03:26):

Guys, I'm surprised nobody had Prenton on their list, the department store downtown?

Blake Droesch (03:30):

Wasn't impressed when I went.

Arielle Feger (03:31):

We thought about adding it to our list, but it didn't make the cut.

Suzy Davidkhanian (03:37):

So Rachel, tell me more, because when I think about TJ Maxx, I really don't necessarily think about the store that I really want to go to, even though they're all about Treasure Hunt.

Rachel Wolff (03:47):

So, I think it depends. I mean, I think for people who really love scoring deals, which is, I would say, most people, TJ Maxx is kind of the place to go, because you can get cheaper, more affordable brands, but you can also uncover a Prada handbag for a fraction of the price, and I think that that is a huge draw, both for people who are trying to keep their budgets under control, but also for shoppers who like the idea of being able to buy designer brands for less.

Suzy Davidkhanian (04:14):

So Rachel, for you, it's not necessarily about the store itself, but it's the concept that keeps getting people to go, which is why folks need to visit.

Rachel Wolff (04:22):

It's the concept, but it is also, as you say, the treasure hunt experience of being in a TJ Maxx or a Marshalls, and just sort of wandering the aisles. I think people really like that sense of discovery that comes with it, and I think plenty of other retailers could learn from that.

Suzy Davidkhanian (04:36):

Guys, I actually didn't think about Ralph Lauren Christmas, which really is everywhere. But given that Ralph Lauren is a brand that's through distribution as much as it is through its own stores, it feels like that's a hard one to execute across all stores, and so I am going with, so drum roll, please, to nobody's surprised, Netflix house for the winner.

Arielle Feger (04:57):

Win for the committee. Win for the committee.

Suzy Davidkhanian (05:00):

To be fair, I was not part of the discussion of the different nominees.

Arielle Feger (05:05):

No.

Suzy Davidkhanian (05:05):

I was just part of the discussion around the different categories, but if anybody tuned into the November retailer ranking, you will know that I was all in on the Netflix house, and I think it's going to be a very interesting look at how you can merge entertainment and retail into one space. Onto category two, glow up of the year. The brand or retailer that transformed itself this year, a smarter assortment, maybe sharper messaging, stronger vibes, a true before and after moment, and so the nominations are, I'm going to start with Blake, who do you have?

Blake Droesch (05:41):

I'm going to go with Barnes & Noble, because I really think they've made good on a lot of their promises to give the stores more of a neighborhood feel, curate the books, and have a great staff. A lot of retailers say they're going to do these big revamps. Then, you go into the store, and there's a detachment from what corporate's saying in reality. Barnes & Noble's really made good on those promises.

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:03):

I love that. Rachel, what do you have?

Rachel Wolff (06:05):

So, I have Nike, and I will caveat this by saying that the company still has a long way to go to make a full recovery, but I've just been really impressed with how they've tried to turn things around. They had their Nike Skims collaboration this year, which was apparently the most successful apparel launch in company history. They're leading in on the WNBA and they have all these new products coming out, and so I think this is really a successful strategy that they need to execute to get back on track.

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:30):

Love it. Arielle?

Arielle Feger (06:32):

Yeah, so thinking about this slightly differently, we chose TikTok Shop. I feel like TikTok Shop, at first, I think people were a little, not sure if they trusted it, not sure if they were really like, "Oh. What kind of brands are going to be on here?" But now bigger brands are joining, consumers are buying, and I think it's just really cemented itself as a true marketplace.

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:58):

Cool. So, before I make a decision, I was kind of surprised. There were so many other glow up moments, like Claire's coming out of bankruptcy, I thought might make your list. Tell me more about, what is it with the Nike revamp. I'm sorry, Rachel. It's always you I keep coming to. Tell me more about what it is that makes Nike deserve that in '25 versus if this was '26 awards.

Rachel Wolff (07:23):

Yeah. I mean, I see your point. I guess I'm voting against my own submission, but I think, to me, it's not just about maybe the results, but also what companies are doing, and I think Nike just had such a big mountain to climb. It was really losing a lot of the momentum to Adidas, to on running, and the fact that it's been able to regain a lot of that prominence in such a short time I think is a testament to, as I said, just how strong its strategy is and how well it's executing.

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:50):

Got it. And Blake, for Barnes & Nobles, it almost feels like there's not that much competition, so the glow up might not be so hard. Tell us more about that.

Blake Droesch (07:59):

Yeah. Have you heard of Amazon? It's a pretty big competitor in both spaces.

Suzy Davidkhanian (08:03):

I mean, but in stores, right?

Blake Droesch (08:05):

Yeah, but you're looking at a category that has the highest E-commerce penetration in basically all of retail. It's like 85%, I think, so when E-commerce is that dominated, then you are competing against the pure-play E-commerce players. So, I think in that case, it's Amazon, and the draw for Barnes & Noble to really sort of, and look, they're not necessarily winning back share of the market, but the fact that they're surviving in a business that has been really battered, not just because of E-commerce, but because of the just decline of interest in books in general, I think, is really just a testament to a smart business model.

Arielle Feger (08:52):

Let's make reading cool again.

Suzy Davidkhanian (08:53):

I know, right? Well, I think this is where all the local bookstores really do such a great job. It'll be interesting to see if Barnes & Nobles can really continue to feel like a local bookstore, even though it's a national chain.

Blake Droesch (09:05):

Yeah, but I do think that they've been able to do that. I think, again, just a sort of local example, when there's a large Barnes & Noble in Co-op City in the Bronx, that closed a number of years ago, and for neighborhoods like that, like Barnes & Noble was the local bookstore. I think there are a lot of areas where, decades ago, the idea of having a mom and pop went out the window, so I think Barnes & Noble sort of took that space for better or for worse, right? So, it was kind of like the chain coming in and displacing the local store, but now in a situation where the circumstances have changed, and it's sort of like Barnes and Noble are bust. I think that consumers are looking at the chain in a different way than maybe they would have like a few decades ago, and I think that's working to their favor as well.

Suzy Davidkhanian (09:56):

Drum roll, please. And the winner is Barnes & Nobles. I'm very excited that the bookstore is back, that people are excited to go back to the store, whether it's to do homework, read a book, slip through a magazine, have a coffee, meet with friends, and so I wish them continued success.

Arielle Feger (10:18):

I will say that the committee, we did talk about Barnes & Nobles being one of the must visit stores, so I definitely will throw an agreement here with Blake on it doing a really good job.

Suzy Davidkhanian (10:30):

I love it. For award number three, it's net new for 2025. Of course, we can't have an award ceremony without talking about AI in some way, so our award number three is called AI Power Move. This is the most meaningful, not just hype use of AI in retail, whether it drove efficiency, creativity, or real customer win, and the nominees are, Rachel, who's on your list?

Rachel Wolff (10:55):

So, I went with what I think is kind of the obvious choice, which is Walmart, and that's mainly for their partnership with ChatGPT, and there are a few reasons. One is that it opens itself up to purchases on ChatGPT, which could position it well if agentic commerce gains adoption, but also because of how it sets itself up against Amazon. Amazon has been very protective of its marketplace and of AI commerce in general. And so I think this definitely puts Walmart in a more favorable position, compared to its biggest rival.

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:27):

Blake, who do you have?

Blake Droesch (11:28):

I'm going to cheat a little bit, because we didn't say specifically gen AI or AI commerce, so I'm going to go Amazon in the ways that they're using AI to power innovation to basically just get people their items faster, and I think, when we think about AI, people are really not using it for shopping yet, so I think that their experimentation is neat, but where I think Amazon is winning is leveraging technology to make those core aspects of retail better, and for eCommerce, it's all about speed of delivery.

Suzy Davidkhanian (12:04):

And Arielle?

Arielle Feger (12:05):

I'm glad Blake said he cheated, because we also cheated a little bit, so we nominated Pinterest for this. While Pinterest isn't a retailer per se, it is pursuing making its platform much more shoppable and doing that through a lot of AI upgrades, helping AI powered boards. They're also doing it on the ad side, helping advertisers do smarter campaigns with AI, and they're also doing it to help make sure that what's on their site is brand safe. They're using it for making sure the content is suitable for both brands and consumers, so they're just using it in a lot of different ways.

Rachel Wolff (12:50):

I think one of the most interesting things about Pinterest and AI is how they're using it to get rid of AI slop or reduce the amount of AI slop on its platform, which I think is very smart.

Arielle Feger (12:59):

Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (13:00):

So, I also think Pinterest is trying to be a retailer, in terms of being a digital mall and making the pins. What I didn't grasp, though, is how they're using AI to facilitate the shopping. Do they have any new tools?

Arielle Feger (13:15):

One of the latest things is the AI powered boards. It's not a direct shopping experience, but these boards kind of have just a more personalized way to browse. There's a make it yours tab that recommends products and content, and it gives you kind of more ideas. It helps you kind of iterate and continue to think, so again, just helping it do what it does, which is serve inspiration and content, and then I think they're also working on the more shoppable technology as well.

Suzy Davidkhanian (13:53):

Drum roll, please. The winner is, not only because she followed instructions, but because I also think that Walmart is really pulling some power moves, in that they're both creating their own tools that are customer facing to make the customer's life easier, but also colleague facing, store associate facing, and they're playing with other people in the sandbox so that they don't get left out. Now, onto award number four, Collab of the Year, the partnership that actually made sense, that lifted both brands, sparked conversation, or created something shoppers genuinely wanted, and the nominations are... Arielle?

Arielle Feger (14:31):

So, we nominated Nike and Skims, which Rachel had already mentioned, so I like that there's like-

Rachel Wolff (14:37):

So, I made your pitch for you, is what you're saying.

Arielle Feger (14:41):

Yes, you did. You said it was, I think, the most successful collaboration. I mean, it's two big big brands. It's two big brands with a lot of name recognition, and I think it just kind of makes sense for them to come together.

Suzy Davidkhanian (14:56):

So for listeners who were not necessarily paying attention, what was the Collab?

Rachel Wolff (15:00):

So, it's basically a collection of F Leisure apparel plus underwear, workout clothes, a wide-ranging launch, but the interesting part about it is that it's not just a collection. It's a sub brand, the same way that Jordan is a sub brand for Nike, so they really are going all in on the Skims collaboration.

Arielle Feger (15:20):

You are doing my work for me. I love it.

Suzy Davidkhanian (15:23):

Awesome. Well, thank you for that. Rachel, let's keep going.

Rachel Wolff (15:24):

Yes.

Suzy Davidkhanian (15:27):

Tell me who you had.

Rachel Wolff (15:29):

So, my nominee is Best Buy and Ikea, and I thought this was a collaboration that I never saw coming, but I also think it makes perfect sense. I mean, Ikea has a lot of brand recognition, but not that many stores in the US. So, with these new shop and shops in Best Buy, they can get their products in front of more people. For Best Buy, it's another way to get shoppers into their stores and to think about which appliances might fit in with their new kitchen setup, so I think it's a great partnership.

Suzy Davidkhanian (15:29):

And Blake?

Blake Droesch (15:58):

I chose the collaboration between J. Crew and the New Yorker Magazine. New Yorker just celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, and that collaboration sort of paid tribute to the anniversary. I think it's unique when publishing a publication, a cultural institution does something with an apparel brand, so two unique companies and just both really fitting into that sort of like preppy, Americana, cultural trend that we're seeing right now, sort of akin to the Ralph Lauren Christmas.

Rachel Wolff (16:34):

Yeah, and given how many people have New Yorker tote bags, I can see a wide-ranging appeal for J crew.

Blake Droesch (16:40):

Oh, for sure. For sure.

Suzy Davidkhanian (16:40):

Blake, for people who aren't as familiar with the collab, can you tell us a little bit more about it?

Blake Droesch (16:44):

Yeah. It was basically an apparel line of J crew clothing with the New Yorker logo incorporated on rugby polos, sweaters, and things of that such. They had like a New Yorker white Oxford shirt with a New Yorker cartoon on the breast pocket, so things like that, basically just your classic J. Crew clothing lines with their standard products with some New Yorker branding on it.

Suzy Davidkhanian (17:12):

And do you feel like New Yorker and J. Crew have an overlap in consumers, or this was a broaden my horizon play?

Blake Droesch (17:20):

No. I think it's sort of two brands that sort of occupy a similar cultural ethos that are kind of just playing into each other.

Suzy Davidkhanian (17:29):

And then, arielle, I want to ask you the same question about Nike and Skims.

Arielle Feger (17:32):

Yeah. I feel like I would say they do both feel like they have a similar ethos. I mean, obviously Skims is a little more cutting edge controversial, I would say, than Nike, but I do feel like athleisure is kind of the middle of that Venn diagram of Nike with athletics, and Skims with more shapewear and lingerie, and so they're meaning in the middle with athleisure.

Suzy Davidkhanian (17:58):

Drum roll, please. So, the winner is the New Yorker and J. Crew, and I think it's really such an interesting example of bringing together two heritage brands and trying to find the right overlap, but also potentially extend on the margins in a understated, it sounds like, way.

Blake Droesch (18:17):

My literary picks are doing well today.

Arielle Feger (18:19):

Yeah. Good job.

Suzy Davidkhanian (18:21):

I have been home sick, so I have been reading. That's not even true. I would like to make a tie in. I can't even keep my eyes open.

Blake Droesch (18:31):

She cannot tell a lie.

Suzy Davidkhanian (18:32):

I can't even keep my eyes open. Onto award five. It's the last one for 2025, campaign of the year. The marketing idea that broke through the noise, resonated most, most memorable and potentially performance driving, and the nominations are, Blake? Tell me yours.

Blake Droesch (18:48):

I think just marketing campaigns are most successful when they're really just short and to the point, people just get it without it needing a ton of explanation. I hate to bring back up this company yet again, but I'm going to go with Nike reintroducing their Just Do It campaign, changing it to "Why Do It?" Which sort of appeals to the younger generation in a way that, and I want to ask, when you heard that slogan and say, "We're trying to appear to the younger generation," to you, was it intuitive why it makes sense?

Arielle Feger (19:26):

I think so, to me.

Blake Droesch (19:28):

To me, it made sense too, without having. I was thinking, how am I going to necessarily sum that up? But I think the fact that it's not even necessary just speaks to very good creative, right?

Arielle Feger (19:39):

Yeah, absolutely.

Suzy Davidkhanian (19:40):

Rachel?

Rachel Wolff (19:41):

I'm the ambassador here. Okay, so I nominate Sydney Sweeney's campaign with American Eagle. I know that there has been some consensus on this topic with the-

Suzy Davidkhanian (19:41):

There is.

Rachel Wolff (19:52):

... Committee, so please chime in, Arielle.

Arielle Feger (19:54):

Yeah. I was going to say that this was our pick too. It's kind of hard to talk about marketing or advertising in 2025 without this being something that you're talking about.

Rachel Wolff (20:05):

Yeah. I mean, this campaign broke the internet. According to American Eagle, they got something like nearly 800,000 customers in the first month on the basis of this campaign. They got 40 billion impressions, so from a numbers' standpoint, it was wildly successful, and it probably got a lot of people to think about American Eagle differently maybe than they had thought about it in the past, so all in all, it was a win.

Arielle Feger (20:29):

Yeah.

Blake Droesch (20:29):

Can I ask a question? Because I know we've discussed this on the podcast, but I haven't been on those. Do we think that they knew that it would inspire that type of outrage? Was that intentional, or did they kind of just like blindly step into this sort of viral moment, right?

Arielle Feger (20:47):

Wouldn't I like to know? I truly don't know. It's hard for me to imagine being in those discussions with that campaign wording, and not being like, "Oh. A little alarm bell is ringing."

Blake Droesch (21:00):

But that happens.

Arielle Feger (21:01):

It does.

Blake Droesch (21:02):

Like, unbelievably often.

Arielle Feger (21:03):

Exactly. It's also like a very real thing for people to kind of overthink something, to the point of not thinking about it at all. I think

Rachel Wolff (21:11):

I think my sense is that it was unintentional, and that they just kind of, once it happened, they're like, "This is great. This is more attention for our brand," and they just doubled down. They were like, "This is exactly what we wanted to happen from the kind of response we wanted."

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:24):

Well, and I think, accidental or not, that they didn't step back and say like, "Oh my gosh. We're so sorry," but that they leaned in, right?

Blake Droesch (21:33):

Doubled down.

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:33):

Yeah. That's fascinating.

Rachel Wolff (21:34):

I mean, their CMO said that it performed beyond any marketer's wildest dreams, which is undoubtedly true.

Blake Droesch (21:35):

Yeah.

Arielle Feger (21:42):

I mean, truly, it gives meaning to all press is good press, which I don't know if I love that, but it certainly has been proved true.

Rachel Wolff (21:52):

But it's also the kind of thing that's very difficult to replicate.

Arielle Feger (21:55):

Yes. Yeah, and I think that we're now probably going to see an uptick in companies trying to replicate this-

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:03):

Uh-oh.

Arielle Feger (22:03):

... And maybe failing.

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:05):

Okay, so I now need your help with this one because on the one hand, you both agree on A, American Eagle. On the other hand, you each have nominated Nike for different awards, so tell me why Nike shouldn't be winning this one.

Arielle Feger (22:20):

I mean, so I think with Nike, if we had an award of like, I don't know, trying hardest. I don't know. I really can't think of exactly the term that I want. I think Nike's campaign is part of a broader strategy, where they are really just trying to claw back some of the share that they've lost and really turn themselves around, so I think when I'm looking at an isolated campaign, I mean, I do like the "why do it," but I also think that, once again, if you just asked a thousand people on the street what was the biggest marketing campaign, I feel like this Sydney Sweeney one would be the most recognized.

Blake Droesch (23:06):

I think that's totally fair. I think-

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:08):

Oh, is it?

Blake Droesch (23:08):

Yeah. If you ask people, "What was Nike's campaign this year?" few people on the street would know. If you ask them like, "What commercial did American Eagle run this year?" everyone would know.

Arielle Feger (23:19):

And I really do like Nike's campaign. I really do. I just think I was going for buzz, not anything else.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:29):

Drum roll, please. I was originally going to give it a tie, but I think Blake convinced me that American Eagle should be the winner.

Arielle Feger (23:39):

Thanks, Blake.

Rachel Wolff (23:39):

Thanks, Blake.

Blake Droesch (23:40):

So, was Nike nominated every time but didn't win a single one?

Arielle Feger (23:40):

Oh my gosh.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:40):

In three of the five.

Blake Droesch (23:45):

Three of the five.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:47):

Yeah, and so that's a great question, so I'm going to remind everybody who the winners were. For our must-visit story of the year, we had Netflix House. For glow up of the year, we had Barnes & Noble. For AI Power Move, Walmart. For Collab of the Year, J Crew, and for our campaign of the year American Eagle.

Arielle Feger (24:07):

Can we give Nike san honorable mention?

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:09):

We can now.

Arielle Feger (24:09):

I do feel kind of bad now.

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:15):

That's all the time we have for today. Thank you, Arielle.

Arielle Feger (24:18):

Thank you. This is great.

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:19):

Thanks, Blake.

Blake Droesch (24:20):

Thank you.

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:21):

And thank you, Rachel.

Rachel Wolff (24:22):

Thanks, Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:23):

And thank you to the team who edits the podcast, and of course, to everyone listening in to Rematching Retail, an eMarketer podcast made possible by Viasat ads. Please leave a rating or review and remember to subscribe. I'll see you next year, Wednesday, January 7th, for our first episode of the new year, talking about our 2026 retail trends. Until then, Merry Christmas to those celebrating, and here's hoping everyone finds a great post-holiday deal and a happy, healthy new year.