Elliott Campbell's Profile

Enjoyed your post. As you mentioned, they have several formidable challenges that they face. Of particular, how do they get consumers to use the service on a consistent basis. It will be interesting to see how their operating model evolves over the years as the pressure for profitability increases – I wonder if there is an opportunity to monetize the recipes and the intellectual capital that the chefs in their network have?

Solid post that parallels the fate of many brick and mortar stores in this category. However, the one thing I struggle with when thinking about this as a manager is how do you get ahead of disruptive trends like the emergence of e-commerce? For instance, I can see many circumstances in which Radio Shack started to invest in digital and still ended up as you have detailed above. This also makes me think about Best Buy, they are the last of the large electronics brick and mortar stores – I wonder why this is. Specifically, is it a result of their pretty formidable digital presence or are they the beneficiaries of good luck and that the market in fact has capacity for one brick and mortar electronics outlet – primary used for show-rooming products.

Jennie, super interesting write up. Specifically, I wasn’t aware that Goodwill operated its own boutique outlets in addition to thrift stores. Given goodwill is clearly operating like a business, I wonder if the company also thinks about brand building and marketing. One of the challenges a company like Goodwill faces, in my mind at least, is the perception that it is an old, hand-me-down thrift store – not necessarily a place millennial’s are looking to go thrift shopping. Moreover, outside of positioning its retail thrift outlets, I would be interested to know how the company thinks about branding and marketing the non-profit work that it does. As I read this, I kept thinking to myself – what exactly does Goodwill do?!?!