Jeffrey McNulty, a Top Retail Expert for 2025, AS AWARDED BY RETHINK Retail and a Top 100 Global Thought Leader in the industry. With 30 years of frontline leadership experience at major retailers like The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and PetSmart—plus two decades as a Retail Market Research Analyst—Jeffrey brings a rare hybrid perspective to retail strategy and leadership. He’s the bestselling author of The Ultimate Retail Manual, now in 28 countries, and the creator of The Ultimate Retail Courses, helping leaders and businesses thrive in a retail space that is evolving.
In this episode, Wendi and Jeffrey discuss:
- Why employee engagement is the real secret to thriving in modern retail
- How Jeffrey turned a tough upbringing into leadership wisdom
- The hidden dangers of AI taking over retail without people-first planning
- Why leadership starts with being on the floor, not in the office
- How simple changes like knowing employee strengths can radically improve stores
Key Takeaways:
- In an age of automation, retail is being revitalized not by technology alone, but by a return to human touch, experience, ethics, and genuine connection are its new lifeblood.
- Employee engagement isn’t just a metric—it’s the driving force behind customer loyalty, far outweighing AI tools or big marketing spends.
- A vivid picture of leadership emerges, not from titles or corner offices, but from presence—being hands-on, fair, and consistent becomes the real currency of influence and morale.
- Through cleverly designed frameworks like SAGE and CAPED, Jeffrey distills decades of retail wisdom into actionable principles that nurture authenticity, empowerment, and alignment.
- One seemingly small gesture—remembering a name, offering help—can become the defining moment of a brand experience, proving that loyalty is often won or lost in the details we overlook.
“Employees are the most important aspect of your company—it's not the customers. Customers are very important, but they're not the most important. I know a lot of companies that had customers, but they didn’t have good employees. And next thing you know—guess what—they didn’t have customers anymore.” - Jeffrey McNulty
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