Finding Your Passionate Core Customer

This week we explore some of the content from Steve's forthcoming book Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption, which is now available for pre-order at book retailers worldwide.

In particular, we go deep on a strategy of being "Special, Not Big" by significantly narrowing the aim of the customers you serve to be more intensely relevant and more highly differentiated. Finding your passionate core is about discovering those customers that sit at the heart of your customer bulls-eye and editing what you do to amplify your impact. In a world where it's harder and harder to become the compelling signal amid all the noise, trying to serve a mass audience is akin to losing a race to the bottom. Find your people, creating meaningful connections, and give them something to talk about.

But we kick things off with an overview of our upcoming busy Shoptalk schedule, including recording several episodes in our Bambuser sponsored remote podcast studio/beach cabana. Then it's on to the week in retail news, which features a return to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner to see what's new with Matches Fashion, Stitch Fix, and TheRealReal. We also share our take on strong quarters from Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters two ANVB's (Analog Native Vertical Brands), while lamenting big whiffs from Victoria's Secret and Foot Locker. We conclude by trying to make sense of Wall Street's ebullient response to Target's latest earnings.

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About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.