Target’s AI Move, Coach Growth and the Future of US Retail

What does Target appointing a Chief AI Officer tell us about the next phase of AI in retail? In this USA edition of Five Things Friday, Alex and Jill examine five developments shaping the US retail market — and the strategic implications behind them. Target has brought Chandu Nair across from Lowe’s as Chief AI Officer, raising a bigger organisational question: should AI sit under one executive responsible for governance and adoption, or should AI capability be embedded throughout the entire business? Foot Locker and Nike are taking a different approach to physical retail with Crenshaw Rec in Los Angeles — combining retail with an open gym, local run clubs and year-round community programming. The discussion looks at whether stores can become genuine community spaces rather than simply places to transact. Then comes one of the clearest retail comparisons of the week. Coach grew 15% while Kate Spade declined 7%. Both sit within Tapestry and operate against broadly the same economic backdrop. Tapestry also recruited more than 2.5 million new customers during the quarter, with around 35% coming from Gen Z. The question for retail leaders: when one brand grows while another declines in the same environment, is the consumer really the problem — or should we be looking harder at product, brand relevance, merchandising and execution? Alex and Jill also look at Michaels, which is building on opportunities created by changes at Joann and Party City and experimenting with how categories, intellectual property and customer demand can be incorporated into future store formats. Finally, they examine research based on almost 19 million North American in-store retail interactions or pieces of feedback, which reported a customer satisfaction rate of 93.4%. Perhaps more interestingly, Tuesday and Wednesday produced the highest satisfaction levels — raising questions around footfall, staffing pressure and store operations. In this episode • Target appoints a Chief AI Officer • AI governance versus distributed AI adoption • Foot Locker + Nike and community-led retail • The Crenshaw Rec concept • Coach growth versus Kate Spade decline • Tapestry and Gen Z customer acquisition • Why blaming the consumer can hide execution problems • Michaels, Joann and Party City • Store-format innovation • US in-store customer satisfaction • Staffing, footfall and retail operations • NRF Europe Chapters 00:00 — Five US Retail Stories This Week 00:39 — Target Appoints a Chief AI Officer 03:51 — Foot Locker + Nike Build Community Retail 05:23 — Coach Growth vs Kate Spade Decline 08:20 — Michaels Reinvents the Big-Box Opportunity 11:29 — US In-Store Satisfaction Hits 93.4% 13:06 — Why European Retail Markets Are Different 14:14 — NRF Europe and the Innovation Stage The Retail Podcast brings together retail leaders and industry experts to examine the technology, strategy, brands and ideas reshaping global retail.