Why Most Merchants Today Would Flop in 1995
…And What That Says About the State of Retail Strategy Now
Picture it: 1995.
You’re a buyer at The Limited, Banana Republic, or J.Crew. There’s no Shopify dashboard. No Klaviyo flows. No influencer codes or AI-powered demand planning. Just a merchant’s gut, a stack of handwritten POs, a pager clipped to your belt—and product instinct sharp enough to slice through pleated khakis.
And you’re crushing it.
Now imagine dropping most of today’s retail planners or DTC founders into that same seat.
They’d drown.
Because Real Merchandising Is Dying—and Nobody’s Talking About It
Let’s be honest: we’ve replaced merchant instinct with dashboards and judgment with spreadsheets. Somewhere along the way, we mistook metrics for insight—and insight for strategy.
We see it every day in modern merchandising and retail planning:
SKU counts balloon with no clear point of view
Promo events pile up, but margin shrinks
Teams “test” into every decision, but no one owns the outcome
Leaders ask for “a read on performance” when what they need is a real point of view
In 1995, you either knew your product, margin, and customer, or you were out. There was no dashboard to save you. You had to read the floor. Trust your assortment. Take a bet. Own the result.
1995 Merchants Were Creators—Not Just Operators
Here’s the truth:
The best merchants back then were part editor, part fortune teller. They didn’t wait for the data to tell them what was working. They made the call—and made it work.
They told a story. They built a business. They led.
The results?
Cohesive collections that held their ground
Product calendars that drove urgency and emotion
Healthy margins—without 17 promo events per quarter
Was it perfect? No.
But it was gutsy. Strategic. Clear.
(Also, let’s be real—it was a great year for cargo pants, Delia’s catalogs, and bold opinions.)
What Today’s Retail Strategy Is Missing
Fast-forward to now:
Product calendars are reactive, not proactive
Creative and planning teams speak entirely different languages
Inventory plans don’t tell stories—they clean up after missed ones
Promotions are the Band-Aid for a weak assortment strategy
And worst of all?
Retail feels… flat. Predictable. Boring.
If you’ve been feeling like your brand or assortment lacks energy, this is probably why.
What We Need: The 1995 Mindset, Powered by Modern Tools
We’re not anti-data. We love a smart KPI dashboard as much as anyone.
But great retail strategy lives at the intersection of instinct and insight. That’s where momentum—and margin—actually come from.
It’s time to:
☑️ Bring back the merchant gut
☑️ Build smarter, tighter, story-driven assortments
☑️ Set a strategic promotion calendar—not just seasonal
☑️ Align your product, planning, and brand so they actually work in sync (because they should)
Ask yourself:
Do your promotions drive urgency, or are they just clean-up for poor planning?
Does your calendar tell a story—or just track SKUs?
Are your teams aligned around a single vision or running three different plays?
If any of that hits close to home, you’re not alone.
Ready to Trade Chaos for Clarity?
This is exactly why we built the Short-Term Strategy Sprint—a focused, 4–6 week engagement designed to pull you out of reactive mode and into a real plan.
If your brand is stuck in promo loops, carrying too many SKUs, or burning cycles with no strategy—you’re not broken. You’re just in need of alignment.
We’ll help you co-create a retail strategy that actually works—with clean tools, clear timelines, and breathing room built in.
Imagine logging into Monday with:
A cohesive product plan
A promo calendar you believe in
A team that knows what they’re selling—and why
That’s what happens when your strategy has a heartbeat again.
👇 Two Ways to Take the Next Step
🛠️ Feeling more Frankenstein strategy than 1995 mastermind?
→ [Book your Strategy Sprint Call]
🧠 Not ready to chat?
→ Join our email list for no-fluff retail insights—tools, tips, and POVs for merchants who want more margin and momentum.