With news headlines shouting doom and gloom in every direction, is the National Retail Federation’s record-breaking $1 trillion holiday forecast wishful thinking? Or something more nuanced? “The consumer is sentimentally weak, but fundamentally sound,” explained Mark Mathews, chief economist and executive director of research for the NRF in a special podcast episode for Retail Rx with Ian Fredericks, chief executive officer of Hilco Global Capital Solutions and executive director of Hilco’s Consumer and Retail platform. That’s important because the consumer is powering our economy more than ever before. Today, 68 percent of GDP is driven by consumer spending—the largest percentage in the past 15 years. “While lower-income households are definitely struggling, what we have seen over the course of the year is that all households have protected their spending on loved ones,” said Mathews. “Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, Back to School, Halloween… we've had at or near record levels of spend across all of those events.” Essentially, it’s the nature of spending that has changed, and to safeguard that spending, many have pulled back in other areas like recreation or travel. Consumers have also shifted to more promotional spending that squeeze margins. “The retailer is constrained because prices are rising, so while retailers will offer sales that are important to consumers, we may not see the breadth of sales that we’ve seen before,” Mathews said.   The NRF has been analyzing data and advising retailers for over a century. The November/December season represents roughly 20 percent of the year’s retail sales for many retailers.

In this episode for Retail Rx, David Dorf, global head of retail solutions at Amazon Web Services (AWS) chats with Ian Fredericks, chief executive officer of Hilco Global Capital Solutions and executive director of Hilco Global’s retail and consumer platform. They explore the many ways agentic AI is being used to help retailers seize this next chapter, and whether retailers should have a chief AI officer.

In this episode, Sourcing Journal executive editor and denim expert Angela Velasquez chats with Lauren Parker, director of Fairchild Studio, about the latest issue of SJ Denim and the industry at large.

Min Zhu, senior director, technical services and operations, US & Canada Softlines, of global testing and certification company SGS, and Haley Gershon, marketing manager of SGS Beta (formerly Beta Analytic), a leading Carbon-14 testing lab for biobased materials that SGS acquired in November 2024, discuss why biobased materials need verification.

Lauren Parker, director of SJ and Fairchild Studios, dives into SJ's "Logistics Report: The Technology Issue" with two Sourcing Journal editors, logistics editor Glenn Taylor and business editor Meghan Hall, business editor. They discuss what's now, what's next, and what it all means for your business.

Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal's executive editor and denim editor, chats with Lauren Parker, director, Fairchild Studio, about what Made in America denim really means

Fernando Bellese, senior director for beef and leather supply chains, WWF, discusses how the Deforestation-Free Leather Fund is improving the sustainability of leather supply chains.

Alex Harrell, Sourcing Journal's sustainability and innovation reporter, chats with Lauren Parker, director, Fairchild Studio, about what's new and what's next in material innovation,

Spanx’s Supima Collection Delivers Its Signature Shaping Technology with a Cotton Twist

In analyzing Sourcing Journal's Tech Report, business reporter/tech editor Meghan Hall discusses the symbiotic relationship between man and machine.

Why Gelmart is Prioritizing the Philippines Amid Diversification Push

Ian Fredericks, president and CEO of Hilco Consumer-Retail, chats with Lauren Parker, director, Fairchild Studio, about how tariff worries — real and perceived — are affecting shopping behavior, inventory and pricing, and what companies can do to prepare.

How Interloop Limited is Diversifying and Mitigating Sourcing Risks

Yang Lu, chief information officer at Tapestry, explains Tapestry's test-and-learn digital strategy to meet customers where they are, and why “iteration is the new perfection.”

Sourcing Journal's sourcing and labor editor Jasmin Malik Chua, and sustainability & innovation reporter Alex Harrell discuss SJ's new Sustainability Report and how companies are keeping the sustainability dream alive.

Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal’s features editor and resident tariff expert, on where things stand now, where they might go, and all the implications.

In this episode, Brian La Plante, senior manager, sustainability, of the Japan-based YKK Fastening Products Group, discusses addressing sustainability's "full hierarchy of circularity."

How Reju is Rebuilding Fashion Systems for Circularity

SJ's Logistics Editor walks us through report highlights, including industry obstacles, opportunities and change.

How the Trust Protocol is Measuring Cotton’s Impact