reading rainbow

mornin merry makers 📕📘📗📒📔

behind on my behind the stores series. behind on life. behind on emails.

this letter is late.

if nothing else, it proves a real person writes these every week. (hi, it’s me.)

very fun personal + professional things happening that i’ll share soon.

in the meantime, i’m still feeling that back-to-school buzz so it felt like the right moment to refresh my retail reading list.

i first shared this list in march, but since then new books have been written by others and read by me. i promised to make this an ever-evolving library and this is me delivering on it!

refresher on my retail library

last year, i realized that ecommerce books and advice are everywhere, but deep, practical knowledge about physical retail is shockingly hard to find.

probably because the people with the best ideas are busy actually running stores…

but the good news is that some of the most legendary founders and brands have published books. the best part is that (most) of these books don’t go stale. unlike social media trends that expires faster than that avocado you forgot about, great retail strategy is timeless.

because retail is all about people.

so i’ve been collecting everything. 70 books and counting.

books that:

• reveal the playbooks of legendary retailers (it’s legal intellectual theft)

• save you from costly mistakes by showing you what not to do

• spark game-changing ideas when you’re creatively stuck

• connect the dots between seemingly unrelated concepts. sometimes the best lesson for a clothing brand is hidden in a book about restaurants or hotels.

new arrivals rack

2025 has been a very good year for my retail reading and retail publishing in general, especially tell-all brand founder/operator tales (lululemon, therealreal, barneys, coach, & kate spade!). didn’t realize how much the media controlled some of these narratives until reading these.

my fave recent reads:

• future demand by james hurman. brand strategy with lessons retailers can’t ignore. hurman shows how emotional relevance creates long-term demand, using sharp examples and frameworks that apply far beyond cpg. data-backed and practical, it instantly made my top 10. thank you amanda gordon for the rec.

• lululemon and the future of technical apparel by chip wilson. lululemon founder wrote his tell-all history of the brand, including his infamous comment on leggings. it made me so nostalgic for the 2010s and appreciative of how technical apparel (his preferred term for athleisure) is the norm now. good warning tale too of some major missteps, mostly financially.

• time to get real by julie wainwright. the realreal’s founder also wrote a set the story straight book about how she grew and ultimately lost the realreal. inspiring to hear her journey for .com biz operator to very scrappy founder on a mission to radically change resale shopping. one of the most candid female retail founder stories i’ve read. now in my top 10, too.

what i’m currently reading:

• gwyneth: the biography by amy odell. telling the fascinating story of the gwyenth paltrow and ofc goop. her whole life seems to be aspirational and polarizing like her brand. entertaining, detailed, and full of lessons on brand-building!

• store traffic is a gift by mark ryski. analytics-first approach to turning foot traffic into conversion. charts and case studies included. i was lucky enough to get an advanced copy as mark will be on bts soon! releases sep 30.

my most anticipated tbr (to be read) books:

• they all came to barneys by gene pressman. written by the grandson of the founder and one of the last to run the company before it unraveled. this book is an insider’s look at barneys new york at its peak. released in september so im sadly in a long libby cue.

• we might just make it after all by elyce arons. the story of arons’ lifelong friendship with kate spade, from kansas dorm rooms to building an iconic handbag brand in 1990s new york. looks to be part coming-of-age, part brand origin story, part celebration of kate.

• bag man by lew frankfurt. the former ceo of coach tells the story of transforming a family-owned leather goods brand into a global accessories powerhouse. expecting lots of very practical lessons. releases october 14.

stacked & sorted for you

because i’m a former finance girlie that’s obsessive about organization, i’ve made this in an easy to navigate, color coordinated, aesthetically pleasing notion template.

i’ve organized these reads so you can find what serves you best.

the books are curated by:

• my top 10 must-reads: start here if you don’t want to overthink it

  • i’ve updated this since the last send!

• by author type (bc building, doing, & reporting on retail aren’t the same)

  • 💡 owners

  • 🛠️ operators

  • 🔎 observers

• by retail category (only applicable for single brand books)

  • 🛒 big-box

  • 🎩 luxury

  • 👠 apparel

  • 💅 specialty

  • 🛎️ hospitality

• by publication year: because the ‘90s had some good retail ideas

fyi clicking these links = supporting merry makery (no kickbacks, just appreciation).

now, without further ado, here’s the list !!!

if you’ve read something retail-adjacent that should be in here, reply back. i love finding the hidden gems. sometimes the best retail book isn’t even about retail. it’s about chefs, airlines, even cults!

happy reading y’all.

may your next strategy spark come from a book, not an ai bot.

p.s. thank you, brad, for keeping this issue free. click to support & learn more!