Bricks and Mortar with Simone Sweeney, Vice President Global Retail Development, The LEGO Group

03/03/22 • 38 min

This episode features an interview with Simone Sweeney, Vice President Global Retail Development at The LEGO Group. Since 2015, Simone has helped develop, lead, and implement global retail programs for the nearly 90 year-old brand.

On today’s episode, Simone discusses the concept of “retailtainment,” the challenges of opening 300 stores in over 40 countries over the last two years, and how technology plays both an inspirational and practical role.

“Everything that we do is our mission to inspire and develop the future builders of tomorrow." -Simone Sweeney

Show Notes

(1:27) Tony’s takeaways on the conversation
(2:50) Simone’s journey in retail
(6:22) Introducing the concept of “retailtainment”
(11:58) The inspirational and practical role of technology in Lego stores
(17:50) Diving into the experiential “Brick Lab” experience
(21:08) The challenges of leading a global retail company
(26:48) Creating a seamless offline and online shopper experience
(30:26) What makes the Lego brand special?
(32:36) Lightning round

Sponsor

This podcast is presented by Dell Technologies and Intel. Together they help you realize digital transformation across retail by driving IT innovation to better engage with today’s connected consumer. Learn more at DellTechnologies.com/retail and Intel.com/retail.

Links

Connect with Simone on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony on Twitter

Tony Saldanha - Transformant

“Everything that we do is our mission to inspire and develop the future builders of tomorrow." -Simone Sweeney

Show Notes

(1:27) Tony’s takeaways on the conversation
(2:50) Simone’s journey in retail
(6:22) Introducing the concept of “retailtainment”
(11:58) The inspirational and practical role of technology in Lego stores
(17:50) Diving into the experiential “Brick Lab” experience
(21:08) The challenges of leading a global retail company
(26:48) Creating a seamless offline and online shopper experience
(30:26) What makes the Lego brand special?
(32:36) Lightning round

Sponsor

Links

Connect with Simone on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony on Twitter

Tony Saldanha - Transformant

Previous Episode

Tracking the Single SKU with Antonia Johnstone, CEO of Sign of the Times

This episode features an interview with Antonia Johnstone, CEO of Sign of the Times. For over 45 years, Sign of the Times has been London’s premier luxury resale store, which Antonia acquired in 2019.

On today’s episode, Antonia discusses her journey as an entrepreneur, the complexities of her industry’s supply chain, and why fashion must reduce its environmental impact.

“100 billion apparel items are produced yearly and 60% of those will be discarded within one year. It’s quite a big issue, and I think fashion needs to lighten its footprint on the planet.” -Antonia Johnstone

Show Notes

(1:27) Tony’s takeaways on the conversation
(3:28) Antonia’s journey as an entrepreneur
(6:26) A day in the life
(9:08) Resale as a sustainability initiative
(10:39) The role technology has played at Sign of the Times
(12:30) Using microscopic photo AI to authenticate merchandise
(13:53) The complexities of the luxury resale supply chain
(18:23) Why fashion must reduce its environmental impact
(23:08) Biggest challenges and tracking the single SKU
(25:13) Lightning round

Sponsor

Links

Connect with Antonia on LinkedIn

Follow Sign of the Times on Instagram

Connect with Tony on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony on Twitter

Tony Saldanha - Transformant

Next Episode

Taking Inventory with Dean Frew & Johan Stenström, CTO & SVP of SML Group and Supply Chain Developer at Stadium

This episode features an interview with Dean Frew and Johan Stenström, CTO & SVP of SML Group and Supply Chain Developer at Stadium, respectively. SML recently partnered with Stadium to provide their item-level RFID solutions, helping increase inventory accuracy at the Swedish sports retailer to 99.5%.

On today’s episode, Dean and Johan discuss the origins of their partnership, the buy-in needed for digital transformation, and why the most successful retailers are the ones challenging their assumptions about inventory accuracy.

“Retailers who are challenging their assumptions about their inventory accuracy and their true in-store performance are the ones who are moving forward.” -Dean Frew & Johan Stenström

Show Notes