Bill Thorne [00:00:00]:

If you resist change, if you want to work against change and you want to bring others with you to fight that fight, you need to go somewhere else. Because in retail, it's constant. It is business at the pace of change. And that is what retail is all about.

Narrator [00:00:16]:

Welcome to Supply Chain Now, the voice of global Supply chain. Supply Chain Now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience. The people, the technology, the best practices and today's critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on Supply Chain Now.

Scott W. Luton [00:00:48]:

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you may be. Scott Luton here with you on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today's show folks. I'm really looking forward to today's show. We have a tremendous voice in the industry, especially the retail industry, to share insights on a wide variety of topics. For example, how retailers are not just gathering customer insights, but powerfully using them across the enterprise. We're going to be talking about the art of storytelling, especially in business. We're going to share a few ways that the pandemic has changed the retail industry perhaps forever.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:22]:

And we might get some Georgia Bulldog stories. So all of that and a whole bunch more, stay tuned for an informative, enlightening and entertaining conversation. So with all of that said, I want to welcome in our outstanding guest here today. Our guest serves as senior vice president for communications, research and marketing at the National Retail Federation (NRF). Now prior to joining the NRF in 2012, our guest served in several leadership roles with Walmart Inc. there in beautiful Bentonville, Arkansas. Our guest also serves as host of the popular Retail Gets Real podcast which you can of course find wherever you get your podcast. I want to welcome in Mr. Bill Thorne.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:02]:

Hey Bill, how you doing today?

Bill Thorne [00:02:03]:

Hi, Scott. I am doing well. How are you today?

Scott W. Luton [00:02:06]:

Wonderful, man. If our pre show conversation is going to be any indication, man, we might need a few more hours today, huh?

Bill Thorne [00:02:13]:

It's the truth. I mean, especially if you start with one of my favorite subjects. We'll take it as it goes.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:19]:

That's where we're starting, Bill. That's where we're starting. And you know, we live here on the outskirts of metro Atlanta, halfway to Athens, which is one of your favorite towns.

Bill Thorne [00:02:28]:

Amen.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:28]:

Home of one of the most dominant sports programs in, in the last five years at least, probably. And that's where I want to start. We're talking, of course, about the the Georgia Bulldogs. And Bill, it goes without saying you're a big fan, you're an alum and you still go back for games regularly, right?

Bill Thorne [00:02:45]:

I do. I. You know, it's one of those things where if you have a weekend and it's free, it's really not free in the fall. I, I mean, you always have something to do. It's those off weekends where you're lost. Certainly after your four years at the University of Georgia, maybe more. You know that your Saturdays are taken starting in early September and hopefully through January.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:05]:

That's right. And heck, these days, beyond football, you've got a world class gymnastic program, you've got a basketball program on the rebound, no pun intended.

Bill Thorne [00:03:13]:

And. Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:14]:

And baseball, of course. So there's plenty to talk about.

Bill Thorne [00:03:17]:

That rebound. That was good, Scott. That was. And if you did that on the fly, that was even specially.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:22]:

Wow.

Bill Thorne [00:03:23]:

So when I was there and during my years at Georgia, we. And in the sports realm, I mean, so of course we won the 1980 national championship, but we also went to the Final Four with Dominique Wilkins. We won NCAA championships in tennis, in golf. Really? Gymnastics. Yeah, those were the glory years from basically 1980 through 1986.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:44]:

I forgot about Dominique Wilkins. And he went to UGA and went on to. Yeah, I caught him on the superstation with the Hawks for a lot of my formative years throughout the 80s.

Bill Thorne [00:03:53]:

Yep.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:53]:

Him and Dusty Rhodes and. And Ric Flair sometimes.

Bill Thorne [00:03:55]:

Yep.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:56]:

So. So, Bill, back to the Bulldogs.

Bill Thorne [00:04:00]:

All right.

Scott W. Luton [00:04:00]:

And I love your passion, by the way. We're gonna have to have a whole sports show about this, but I got two questions for you. The first one, if you could share one or maybe a couple of your favorite all time games. It's a lot to choose from.

Bill Thorne [00:04:12]:

Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:04:12]:

And then number two, I'd love to know one of your favorite all time Bulldog athletes.

Bill Thorne [00:04:17]:

Yep, both of those are incredibly hard. I think for any Georgia Bulldog football fan. It is literally a click through a stack of index cards that's probably a mile long. But I guess I would identify two. And they happened to happen in the same season. And it's because it was so unexpected. And I believe that the number one was in Jacksonville, Florida, that year that we won the national championship. The miracle play.

Bill Thorne [00:04:44]:

Lindsey Scott came in and it was a fourth down and we were not winning, obviously. And at that time, I believe it was Notre Dame was number one. We were number two. And Notre Dame got beat by Georgia Tech. And so they put that up on the screen and was like, dear Lord, but we've got to win this game. And how are we going to win this game? And Lindsey Scott made a run of about 80 yards into the end zone to win the game. And what I remember most about that was falling into the sea of people. Now, I was kind of in the student section, so you weren't a sea of elderly people.

Bill Thorne [00:05:18]:

It was just a sea of young people, young, pliant people. And everybody was falling. Everyone was jumping up and down and falling literally down the rows. And I remember looking up as I'm falling and thinking to myself, I can't believe we won this game. And then number two is, I can't believe how much bourbon is being wasted right now. As I watched all the cups being flung in the air and all the Coke and everything spilling. And then the second, of course, was my first Sugar bowl and the one that we won, one that we beat Notre Dame. And I just remember it was such a.

Bill Thorne [00:05:50]:

Such a wonderful experience to the extent I'd never been to New Orleans before. And this was always over. My birthday, my birthday was December 30th. So you're playing New Year's, and so you got to celebrate that. You got to celebrate New Year's. And that particular year we got to celebrate a national championship win. I do remember going into the dome, though, and finding my seat and thinking that the Goodyear blimp had a better view than I did because we were so high. It was like they needed to give you grappling hooks and oxygen from where I sat.

Bill Thorne [00:06:19]:

But I was there and that's all that mattered. So that was.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:22]:

What a special.

Bill Thorne [00:06:23]:

Those are my special year. Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:25]:

Really quick, before you talk about one of your favorite Georgia athletes, was that year, the late, great play by play? Very much, yes. Was that the year that he came up with the hobnail boot infamous call?

Bill Thorne [00:06:38]:

That was. That was. I don't believe that was 1980. But the one thing that Larry did, and we still listen to it today and get chills, he talked about the fact that he broke through his steel chair in the press box when Lindsay Scott scored that touchdown. And I could tell you I can hear it today as anybody that was alive and a fan in those days, they can hear Larry, Larry making that call. And it was just unbelievable. He was an unbelievable guy. He was the voice of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Scott W. Luton [00:07:09]:

I'm with you. I am with you. A very special individual that could call a game like few even. It sends chill bumps up. Even the opposing fans like me. Okay, now this next one's me, even tougher, especially given the last few years. What's one of your favorite all time Georgia Bulldogs?

Bill Thorne [00:07:25]:

It seems like such a cop out. I could go To Herschel Walker very easily, because he was during my time. I remember the first time I saw him in person, I could not believe the size of his legs. They looked like tree stumps. They were. It was unbelievable. I'm going to go to the Stetson Bennett story. This guy who does that, I mean, who walks on, who takes the.

Bill Thorne [00:07:47]:

Just the practice position and then goes in and wins two national championships. That's a person that, you know, is blessed with, not only with an ability, but an athletic ability. Right. An ability to keep things in perspective and to be who he is. And he's had some difficulty since then, no doubt. I mean, we've all read about it, we all know about it, but what he was able to accomplish at such a young age without the expectations and without really. And nobody really believed him anyway. I mean, it's kind of like, oh, he's getting lucky.

Bill Thorne [00:08:20]:

But what he showed was a skill and an ability that we haven't seen at Georgia in a long, long time. Jake Fromm, another great quarterback, but I just think that the story, our Rudy, is Stetson Bennett.

Scott W. Luton [00:08:32]:

Yeah, that's a great way of putting it. What was the nickname? Was it the Postman?

Bill Thorne [00:08:35]:

Yes.

Scott W. Luton [00:08:36]:

Because he always delivered.

Bill Thorne [00:08:37]:

Yes. Oh, it was. I'd get chills.

Scott W. Luton [00:08:40]:

Great, great nickname. And I gotta add one athlete in this modern era besides Herschel, which wasn't so much modern era, but like, in the last few years. I love Hersel, but Brock Bowers. Oh, yeah, I was so jealous. I wanted a Brock Bowers. And Clemson's had some great athletes, great receivers, but, man, Brock Bowers, from the time he stepped foot, it seemed like, until the time he left, I felt like he was there 20 years. It's like he didn't miss a catch. And when you think you.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:08]:

You had him bottled, you got to, like, tackle him three times, make sure he doesn't go anywhere.

Bill Thorne [00:09:12]:

He was the real deal and he still is. I mean, look. Look at what he's doing. And again, you just go to somebody that, you know, it was pure, driven athleticism. He was going to do what he was going to do because he was going to make himself do it. And he wasn't going to let anybody tell him he couldn't. And we were so incredibly fortunate to get him as a part of our program.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:32]:

He's great, man. And I still see him. He's a spokesperson with a credit union out here. So I see him all the time in football and away from football. Thank you. All right, so I think we have successfully warmed things up with the one and only Bill Thorne. As we start to kind of get more and more into a business conversation, I want to talk about one other, both personal and business topics that is has to deal with one of our favorite cities, one of me and Amanda's certainly favorite cities of all time, Savannah, right here on the coast of Georgia. That's where your hometown.

Scott W. Luton [00:10:05]:

Savannah, Savannah, Georgia. So I'm going to ask you, Bill, a couple of observations about your hometown. Both like on maybe on the travel and the consumer side, so to speak, maybe. And then its important role from a business perspective and supply chain perspective as well. What comes to mind.

Bill Thorne [00:10:22]:

Savannah is very unique. Of course, I'm hugely biased. Everybody that says, well I went to Charleston, I said, well you haven't really seen the old south. You need to go to Savannah. I always say that Charleston is the crown and Savannah's the jewel. It's a wonderful town with wonderful people. It's, it's changed, certainly changed a lot over the years. Everything does.

Bill Thorne [00:10:42]:

But when I go home, I just feel like I'm crawling back into a very warm bed. It's what I know. It's the people that I know. It's the approach that they have. It's fun, it's funny. I think of all of the changes that came after John Behr wrote his best selling book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which really brought an attention to Savannah that we had never really had before. I wouldn't say that it would have been sleepy, but it certainly wasn't what it is today as a result of his book. And then think about all of the development that's been going on with the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Bill Thorne [00:11:17]:

That school started just in a single building. It now has really put Savannah on the map academically in the arts area. And I'm often amazed when we have our program up in New York. We have a student program and the number of students that come from scad Savannah College of Art and Design, they're coming from all over the world. And so that's just another thing. Of course, Savannah incredibly important as it relates to the supply chain primarily because of the ports. But you think about what they've done to try to stay and remain relevant, the continued growth and development they've had in the ports, the number of trailers that they can actually now accommodate. I have been amazed.

Bill Thorne [00:11:52]:

I have to be honest with you, Scott. When I go home, I fly home and I usually go the road by the airport, which is the port road. Basically all you see are semis and all of the distribution centers that are there now, they're massive, and all I can see are the ones from the road. And I made a comment to somebody one time, I said, I can't believe all the. They say they go back acres and acres over a mile, are just distribution centers. So they have the capacity to do what they do best, and that is to serve the east coast. So you've got Charleston, you've got Savannah, you've got Jacksonville. It's a competition, but I think it's a very healthy competition because it really does help us to move our goods and services in a way that makes sense for our retailers, for our automobile makers, for our construction, you name it across the board, you know, the Savannah port, you know, handles it.

Bill Thorne [00:12:41]:

The one thing that I remember is when I was in high school, if you drove to school, I went to a school called savannah Christian. If you drove to the school, you had to. There was no way to get to the school without going over train tracks. And what a pain in the butt that was. However, now as an adult, I think that is really wonderful. It just shows that we have the infrastructure, we have what we need in order to be a big player in the supply chain space. And as I said, it just continues to grow because the ports authority and the government continue to look to the future. What is it going to take? They're dredging the additional building, dropping some of the regulatory barriers, while ensuring that we're still being responsible folks in the community, the employment and all of the things that it brings.

Bill Thorne [00:13:22]:

So the ports have always been. You know, I've known people that have worked there. My father was the manager of the paper mill union camp at the time, International paper. And I would work out there in the summers. And one of the. I worked in the chemical division so I wouldn't have to run into my dad, but in the chemical division, I have to go out on the train tracks and actually kind of audit the tankers that were in the yard to make sure. And it was always kind of exciting, fun thing to do because you think of where those were coming from and where they were going to. So a real respect for what it meant to not only that business union camp, but what was happening all across.

Bill Thorne [00:13:58]:

I think daisy crystals was there as well at that time, and I think that's changed. But anyway, bottom line is the ports and the role that savannah plays in the supply chain is incredibly important.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:09]:

Oh, I'll tell you, van is intriguing for all of those reasons you shared. And I'll just add, since I'M a big factoid nerd. Savannah, at least in terms of 2024.

Bill Thorne [00:14:21]:

Right.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:21]:

Overall tonnage, Savannah was the fourth busiest port in the U.S. how about that?

Bill Thorne [00:14:26]:

That's.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:26]:

And the latest data I could find for global tonnage, that was 2023. It was the 40th busiest in the world.

Bill Thorne [00:14:33]:

So top 50 little Savannah.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:36]:

So it is. Yeah, it really is remarkable. Two final comments. The train, the railroad industry. Oh gosh, talk about it.

Bill Thorne [00:14:43]:

Yes.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:43]:

Under recognized. It's remarkable what trains do and just all that they move that keeps us all moving. And then last one for you, Bill. It's going to be the the UGA and Savannah podcast here today, but can't help it. Favorite place. That's so many great places. The two are favorites. One is real.

Scott W. Luton [00:15:02]:

Well, both of probably you might roll your eyes. Pink House, of course.

Bill Thorne [00:15:05]:

Yeah, sure.

Scott W. Luton [00:15:06]:

But Vicks on the river is probably our favorite when we go down there and gosh, to see the container ships where.

Bill Thorne [00:15:14]:

Oh, I know. Is that amazing. Reach out.

Scott W. Luton [00:15:16]:

Reach out and touch it. It feels like.

Bill Thorne [00:15:17]:

Right. Yeah, we were done. I'll show you a video that I did when I was down there at the Hyatt last time. It was really cool. I just did it in. I saw the ship coming and it just goes on and on and it's in high speed and it's just like this thing is monstrous. But it was really cool. And I think people that haven't been to Savannah, of course the popular spot is river street.

Bill Thorne [00:15:37]:

And when I was in school on Friday nights that's where we would cruise. Could just go back and forth on River Street. Now you can't get on river street, but bottom line is that it's a great place to dine. It's a great place to just go out to the bars and have a good time. It's a great place to in the fall watch Georgia football. And they do a lot of festivities. Now, the one coming up, of course, St. Patrick's Day.

Bill Thorne [00:15:58]:

And one factoid that I think is important when you think about the how big the ports are in this little small town. The other thing is Travel and Leisure just did an article about Savannah being the second largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the country, beating out Boston and Chicago and only second only to New York. And it's 201 years old. So it's been going on for a long, long time. But it is when you go to the parade, it is about a four and a half hour time commitment. If you set up down by City hall, just get ready it goes on and on and on and on.

Scott W. Luton [00:16:32]:

Probably some of the best people watching in the whole wide world, I imagine.

Bill Thorne [00:16:35]:

There is no doubt in my mind before, during, and especially after, it's a lot of fun. So if you. You don't have any plans for St. Patrick's Day, I highly recommend getting Savannah. You really should. It's pretty spectacular.

Scott W. Luton [00:16:48]:

All right. Speaking of, shout out to Dave Mans, Port City logistics, one of the players down there. I'm gonna be talking with him and his team in an upcoming episode, so we'll find out what. What they' too. But love Savannah, love the business side, love the travel side, and I appreciate your thoughts there. So, Bill, we got so much to get into, man. I am the retail industry just absolutely intrigues me. And I think one of the reasons that is, is when you are.

Scott W. Luton [00:17:14]:

We're all consumers, right? So we all are customers of the retail industry. But then on the supply chain side, where that intersection is teaches us so many different things.

Bill Thorne [00:17:24]:

And.

Scott W. Luton [00:17:25]:

And there's no shortage of topics when it comes to the retail industry. And I want to pick your brain on a few of them here. And I want to start. Bill, the big show, right? Biggest show in the retail industry. Every year up in New York City at a famed venue. I've heard a lot of great takeaways from the 2025 version of the big show you hosted. Jennifer, is it a Sarah?

Bill Thorne [00:17:46]:

Yep, yep, yep.

Scott W. Luton [00:17:47]:

From Walmart on a Fireside chat. One of the things you spoke about with Jennifer was the importance of customer insights and more importantly, how retailers like Walmart or putting them to use and leveraging them in a number of different ways. What were some of the highlights from your chat with Jennifer?

Bill Thorne [00:18:03]:

Phil, it goes without saying it's not new, but data is king. But just having the data doesn't do it for you. And all of the data that you can bring together, you've got to figure out a way and how you can use that to make the customer experience a better experience, a more personalized experience. You remember when you were kids? I remember when I was a kid, you go into a store, general merchandise store, you know, in town, and you knew the guy behind the counter. You knew the people that worked there. You knew the people probably that owned it as well. And they would know when you came in what you were looking for primarily and would help you to find it and make sure that they were in stock. And so in today's world, if you want the loyalty, if you want the people to come back and have a good experience, you've got to personalize it as much as you can.

Bill Thorne [00:18:52]:

And so online, I mean, of course that's where you're collecting big time data. That's where if you go to any, it is that single sign on where they know you, they know what you've ordered, they know what you, what you've been there for. And so what they're doing while you're there is serving up what they think you may be looking for that you want. It's that old guy behind the counter at that general merchandise store stepping back out and telling you where it is and what it's costing and, and maybe there's a couple of other options that you may want to consider along the way. So bringing in that data and making sure it doesn't just sit there, it helps the retailer also in store or online to determine trends, you know, where things are going. That data is incredibly important to keep them relevant and always thinking forward, not telling the consumer what they want, but following the consumer's lead and what they want. And so as a result, you make sure that you are keeping up with what their wants and needs are, that you're serving it to them where they want to be served at a price point that they want to pay. And so it's been it.

Bill Thorne [00:19:54]:

Jen is just, she is absolutely fantastic. I mean, she knows numbers, but not just numbers. She knows how you can use those numbers to grow the business. And not only just grow the business, but to maintain loyal customers that will always come back. And that's the hard part of it. You can always go out and you can always churn, but you don't really want to churn that much, primarily because you want those people to come back again and again and again and bring others with them. I had a great experience on Walmart.com or Pinterest or whatever it is. And the primary reason for that is because they know you and you don't have a problem with that.

Bill Thorne [00:20:28]:

And a lot of people, I think for a long time, Scott, were very concerned. I'm not comfortable with giving all of them that information. And that really came into the security side of it. And there were a lot of breaches just 12, 13 years ago. But I think that the, I think that the industry has done an incredibly good job at making sure that the data collect, that they collect is safe and that it's not being used for anything other than making that customer's experience a great experience. Jen is, it's the largest retailer in the world, so she's got a lot going on you know, one time when I was in Bentonville, I think it was the David Glass Center, which was where all of the technology was stored. And I don't know if this is true or not, but they still talk about it like it's true. So I'm just going to tell the story that it was built so that it could.

Bill Thorne [00:21:16]:

It's like a bunker. All of the guts are deep down and that it could take a direct hit From I think three 7 47s and still up.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:26]:

Wow.

Bill Thorne [00:21:26]:

Yeah. So it's a recognition that. And to my Walmart friends, if I have that completely wrong, I'm just repeating something somebody told me. I never asked, but it sounds good and I believe it. So.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:39]:

Great story.

Bill Thorne [00:21:40]:

It is a great story. It is.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:41]:

We gotta use it.

Bill Thorne [00:21:42]:

But it is an indication of how important that data is, how important their innovations are to the business. And so I'm just. Data is king. If you're not using your data wisely, if you're not using your data to help your customer, if you're not using your data to bring new customers in, then you're just not going to succeed.

Scott W. Luton [00:22:00]:

So, Bill, we're going to talk about, we're going to pivot here in just a second, but I got one quick follow up. I'm in Walmart's a lot. I got three kids. We're in stores a lot more than my taste would like to afford. But Walmart, you held leadership roles there. We're going to transparently put that out there. So Bill's response to my question might not be completely impartial, but that's okay. As a Walmart shopper for probably all of my life, since the first one popped up in Aiken, South Carolina, when I was probably like six years old, the experience there has transformed in the last I call like six, seven years, maybe 10.

Scott W. Luton [00:22:37]:

And I just went in and was reminded again last week. I mean, from just being able to get in and out quickly and be able to find what you're looking for quickly. And even the simple transaction where the prices are always right and that wasn't always the case. It's amazing. And of course, if Amanda was here, she'd talk about the e-commerce side. She's on Walmart Plus, I think it is. I'm always into stores. When you get together with your ex Walmart colleagues, do y'all talk about this transformation we've seen?

Bill Thorne [00:23:09]:

All I would say is once a Walmartian, always a Wal Martian. So it's. I never consider them ex colleagues. We've all got something in common, and that is learning the industry in a place where you can't help but be energized and excited about what the future holds. And I think that what you're seeing, Scott, is a commitment by the leadership. And I'm going to go all the way to the Walton family, but particularly the leadership. Doug McMillon has done a phenomenal job, along with John Furner, of really keeping the stores relevant to all. They're seeing a level of customer that they've seen before, but not at the level that they've seen them.

Bill Thorne [00:23:50]:

And that's. That's the customer that's kind of upscale. And so it's not that they're downscaling, it's just that Walmart has an offering that is competitive with what they would pay a lot more money for and still get the same quality by buying it at Walmart and paying a lot less. It's. It's really interesting. I was on a call one time, and somebody called the Save Money, Live Better. They called that our tagline. And there was this long silence.

Bill Thorne [00:24:15]:

I was like, ooh. And so he goes, that is not our tagline. That is our mission. That is our value statement. That is what we bring when we bring a Walmart store into a community, into a person to serve a consumer. So they take it very seriously. And I will tell you that it was one of the best career experiences I probably ever had. I'm sorry, Matt.

Bill Thorne [00:24:36]:

I love nrf, but, I mean, Matt's my boss. But the. I mean, when I think about what I learned, and even just. I was only there for a little over about six years, but what I learned during that time and the people that I met and the opportunity. One of the greatest things I did, Scott, and it was very much. It was kind of weird. Not many people did it, but I think they're doing it regularly now. I mean, I think in their onboarding for certain, at a certain level.

Bill Thorne [00:25:00]:

But I'd go out every summer and for two weeks work in a store or one of the formats. So whether it was Supercenter, I was with the drivers. That was one of the most fantastic experiences I think I ever had, working in their smaller formats and meeting the people, meeting the fellow associates, the consumer, and then the people that really make it happen, whether it's in the back rooms or the stocking or whatever it is, and having those conversations. So that when I went back to Bentonville, I had a much better understanding of what they're thinking and how we, as a company can help them to achieve success. And I think that's what anybody and everybody wanted.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:39]:

Love it. And one, one final note here before we switch over to LEGO, one of everybody's favorite brands. But one of my favorite podcasts we've done, and we've done quite a few was with a Walmart truck driver.

Bill Thorne [00:25:51]:

Oh my God.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:51]:

I think her name was April.

Bill Thorne [00:25:53]:

Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:53]:

And she was an award winning truck driver. And it is, it's awesome. And it really, it served as an inspiration why we want to celebrate our truck drivers.

Bill Thorne [00:26:02]:

Oh my God.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:03]:

Year round, not just a week in September, but year round.

Bill Thorne [00:26:06]:

Those guys, I will tell you, I worked in the distribution center, then I went out for a full day 12 with one of the drivers. And they're an incredible force. I call them the Marines. They go out and they get the job done and nothing's going to stop them. Nothing. They're committed, they're passionate, they love what they do, they love being on the road, they love meeting the, going into the stores, working with the managers. I'm hoping that that is the same for a number of other large retailers, that they have the same kind of core in their army. But boy, I'll tell you what, for Walmart, those guys, I just have so much respect for what they do, the way they do it and the passion they bring to it.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:48]:

Same, same, same, same, same. Okay, Bill, let's talk about LEGO.

Bill Thorne [00:26:54]:

Oh, gosh.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:55]:

My son Ben is perhaps arguably the world's number one LEGO fan. I've got some of the stuff that he's built for me right back behind me. And you spoke on your popular podcast, Retail Gets Real. You spoke with a leader from LEGO. Let's see. Martin Urrutia.

Bill Thorne [00:27:11]:

Yes. I hadn't practiced that so many times. I mean, Scott, I'm telling you, I mean, I'd be like, I'm sorry, I've just got to do this one more time before I try it.

Scott W. Luton [00:27:20]:

Oh my gosh. My Southern English does not cooperate with what I'm trying to say sometimes. So my again, I've learned so much more about LEGO through my son Ben, who is now in sixth grade. And it's amazing how fast he puts those structures together. So I love Martin's perspective on your podcast episode, especially around storytelling and customer experience. We just touched on that. So when it comes to those two superpowers, what retailers in your mind really get it right like LEGO gets it right?

Bill Thorne [00:27:52]:

Well, I've got one answer for that and that is successful retailers, they're the ones that get it right that bring Those two components together in order to succeed for their business and for their customer, I would be loath to try to pick one over another. The ones that are doing it are pretty obvious. The ones that aren't are pretty obvious. And I think that there is an understanding today that if you don't tell the story, then people just aren't going to listen. When I first met Matt Shea, who's our president and CEO, he was only in the job for a little over maybe about two years, and we were meeting for breakfast, and I was not meeting him to take a job at the National Retail Federation. I was meeting him to find out what the National Retail Federation could do for Walmart. And my job in particular, which was citing stores in urban markets. And as I sat there listening to Matt, what dawned on me was that while I may not have a tremendous amount of affection for trade associations, believe it or not, I heard somebody telling me that one of the best things that this trade association could do is tell stories.

Bill Thorne [00:29:03]:

And it's not us as the National Retail Federation telling the story. It's bringing the people that are on the front lines. It's the people that actually have a story to tell because they're credible. People can relate. And so it was building platforms by which that story could be told in a compelling way. And so I believe that retailers are doing that more today than ever before. Look, at one point in time, I was frustrated at Walmart because I kept thought, we have so many great stories to tell. Why are we telling these stories? And the bottom line is, and what I came to learn, and it's not like, oh, we're going to ignore telling stories.

Bill Thorne [00:29:39]:

It was, we have to sell socks, T shirts and underwear telling stories, I don't know that that's going to help. So what you had to do, and I think what. And the team that I worked with, that they're still there working really hard, doing great work, was to show that, in fact, it does impact the business, that you can build business and loyalty by telling the story. What do we do? How do we do it, why do we do it? And who does it? And each one of those people, every associate, they have a great story to tell. Consumers have a great story to tell about a great experience. So finding ways to tell the story of how retail operates beyond the cash register and what we are able to do as an industry and lifting people up and helping communities to grow and to thrive. And if you don't tell the story, people, there's too much going on. There's Too much stuff out there.

Bill Thorne [00:30:32]:

So tell something that gets their attention and then keep it. So I think in the case of Martin and LEGO, look, it's LEGO. As we were talking about earlier, one of my favorite stories for Martin was not while we were actually recording. After we finished recording, he said. I said, well, it must be great. You know LEGO, everybody knows LEGO. You don't have to get on a plane and say, oh well, LEGO creates these little blocks that snap together and you can make things out of it. Everybody knows it.

Bill Thorne [00:31:00]:

And so he talked about the fact that it's one of his favorite things that, like, he'll go to a new country, he'll be going through customs, they'll see who he works for. And he said, it takes me twice as long to get through customs because they want to tell me the story about their LEGO, their first LEGO, their son's LEGO, the thing that they did, what they built and how much of a bonding experience that was. He said, it just makes me laugh, smile and know that I've got the best job in the world for the best company in the world. And it's true. I mean, everybody knows LEGO, right? And the things that they're doing. And that's the other thing. He did mention that they had a series that I believe it was Netflix or somebody. And if you Google it like I did and if you listen to the episode, he describes it.

Bill Thorne [00:31:42]:

But it is how they got the store in London ready and prepared for basically Christmas time and in a very, very, very short period of time. And it was really eye opening in terms of what they had to go through and some of the challenges that they had. But the thing that really struck me were the thousands of people that were lined up there to finally get in that store and just people lined up with, trying to look behind the curtain and see what was going on. So everybody knows LEGO and there's a reason for that, because they tell a great story.

Scott W. Luton [00:32:13]:

I love that. I loved your initial answer. Successful retailers are the ones that pay close attention to improving, enhancing and optimizing the stories they tell and of course, the experiences that their customers have. I was telling, I think, Enrique Alvarez and Jenny Froome earlier today that storytelling is one of the earliest candidates for theme of the year. We've been talking so much about storytelling and it goes to what Bill's talking about, because in this avalanche and tidal wave of noise stories, when you, especially when you get them right, they're compelling and they're compelling to vie for that divided attention. And research points out that humans will remember a story better than they'll remember actual facts and data points, which is telling. So ignore your inner storytelling skills at your own peril.

Bill Thorne [00:33:09]:

Amen to that, brother.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:12]:

So a lot more here. I've got some unfair questions to ask you.

Bill Thorne [00:33:15]:

Oh, boy.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:16]:

And I'm going to start with a great read. I was reading in Retail Dive, one of my favorite publications, and they had a really holistic article focused on the pandemic's impact on the retail world. Now, five years later, five thankful years later, goodness. Now here's some good news, though, and folks, you have to go check it out. We're going to get some bills observations here, but some good news. Many analysts see better times the months ahead for many of the retail sectors that got hit hard late in the pandemic. Think furniture, electronics, outdoors. So that is certainly good news.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:49]:

So, Bill, you've got your finger on the pulse, all right. You've been in the sector and now you're talking and working with the movers and shakers across the retail industry, own this industry that touches everybody. So when you think of COVID 19's biggest impact on retail, especially the impact that still lingers or maybe in some cases still dominant here today, what's a couple of thoughts you've got?

Bill Thorne [00:34:12]:

Geez, it's so interesting to look back, and I don't know that we do enough of that. Actually, I was in a meeting not too long ago with Matt, and we were talking about, in a coup of my colleagues, we're talking about those days. And we're coming up on an anniversary. March 13th is the day that we closed the office to test to see whether or not we could actually operate remotely. And we didn't open again for almost two years. And it's just startling when you think back to how dark those times were, how scary they were, how uncertain they were, and the things that you had to go through. And then you think about the business, you think about retailers and the customers. And it was hard.

Bill Thorne [00:34:50]:

I mean, it wasn't easy for anybody, but I'm just for everybody, it was hard. I remember some of the trials and tribulations of the fact that you'd have a municipality and they would say, our municipality, you are allowed to open, but you have to rope off everything except for groceries. And you can only have three customers at a time, and you can only be open for two hours and everybody has to be masked and gloved and there can't be any money exchanged. I mean, all these things and across the street from them in Another literally across the street from them, which happened to be in another municipality. They were shut down. They were shut down. You couldn't open your store. And so what was the key takeaway? What really got me through that curiosity? I mean, where.

Bill Thorne [00:35:34]:

What was going to be the new normal? Where were we going to end up? How are we going to deal with this? The thing that I found most exciting, and it's hard to use that word when you're talking about COVID but was what retailers were doing to respond to the consumer. And look, sure, they were looking to sustain their business, but at the same time, they had customers and they had employees, and they were concerned about them. They were concerned about that community. Their kids go to those schools, they attend those churches, they shop the other stores, and they're worried about what this all is going to mean for the community, for their families and for their friends and for their neighbors. The thing that impressed me was in retail, as you probably know, somebody has an idea, I have an idea that we should start a concierge service, and we will shop the product and we will take it to their car for them, and we will wear masks, and we will only use blah, blah. And so, as opposed to what was pretty common, which is, all right, let's play that out, let's cost it out, let's look at all of the different things that. How that will impact the business. Would it really work in all of our markets? And they go through this whole exercise, and then we're going to test it, we're going to roll it out at a few stores and in several different communities, because they're very different.

Bill Thorne [00:36:53]:

So we'll see how that works. And then if it works, we'll do this slow roll over six months and get it out to all of our stores. During COVID it was like, do it. Just get it done. I don't care. Just get it done. If it gets the product to the consumer, I don't care. Do it.

Bill Thorne [00:37:11]:

And it was amazing to me and the people that I had the opportunity to talk to, whether it was through Retail Gets Real or just picking up the phone and calling and saying, how's it going? This was the dynamic. And I kept asking because it really got me kind of excited, because our industry, we're not known for being fast. We're known for being smart, and we're known for doing things that actually bring the customer back and being innovative, but not fast. And so all of a sudden, we got fast things that were being a meeting. Somebody said, hey, I have this idea, do it, get it done, roll it out, we need it tomorrow. And so I think, and I asked a lot during that time, will we ever go back to pre pandemic to that whole this is the way we're going to roll it out, that slow roll to get the service or whatever it is out to the consumer, into the communities. And all of them pretty much said, no, I don't think we'll ever go back to that. I mean, what we've seen is we can do it.

Bill Thorne [00:38:14]:

So if there's one bright thing coming out of the pandemic, I know that there's many really, I mean, you know, people, consciousness, understanding, fragility of life and friends and the meaning of what we do. And I mean, so there's a lot of good that causes a lot of introspection. But the one thing I think for the retail industry, it made them realize that they could do it fast, they could model it and do the best that they can. And if it didn't work, it was a noble failure and they would try something else. And so I believe that's still going on and I believe that it's becoming a part of the culture for many of the successful retailers who believe that they have a way to stay relevant and to do something that makes a difference for the customers that they serve. So that probably to me was the biggest impact or one of those.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:01]:

I love your perspective. And I hope that many of the lessons that we learned through the pandemic and in the months thereafter really stick with us.

Bill Thorne [00:39:11]:

Amen.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:11]:

And we're, we're seeing some signs. I see some folks slipping back, not everybody, thankfully, but some. But to one of your main points there, I heard I was at a virtual conference in the thick of the pandemic, and one retail sea level said that they had gone through five months of digital transformation in like five weeks. It really speaks to that velocity you're talking about. It really prepared us talk about the velocity and how it's permanently changed. I mean, goodness gracious, it's minute by minute sometimes. But that comment going to your point, and then one other thing that you spoke to that I'll always remember. During the pandemic, we had a panel of retail leaders.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:50]:

This one happened to be in the do it yourself space. And she was talking about how through the pandemic, how they were examining some surveys from employees, really focused on employee experience. And the employee reimbursement process was getting a lot of attention. Cause it was very clunky. It was very 1972ish. And she said, the team of executives come to your point, they got to talk. And it's like, why have we always done this? And why don't we just change to make it really easy? We've got all the accounting taken care of. Why don't we make it easier on our employees? And they just made the change.

Scott W. Luton [00:40:28]:

And she was talking about how they wish they had made that change and many others decades ago, years ago. To be fair, that since we're, you and I both are kind of, we're going to make our moms happy with our language today. I'll call it the those bull crap moments where folks got tired of stupid things we've been doing just because it's how we've always done it. It seemed like we ripped a layer of that out of industry, not just out of retail, but out of business. And I hope that sticks around for a long time.

Bill Thorne [00:40:56]:

Scott, I totally agree with you and I do. And if you listen to, I feel like all you have to listen to is four episodes of Retail Gets Real and you'll hear me talk about change in this industry. Change is everything. And so if you don't like change, if you resist change, if you want to work against change and you want to bring others with you to fight that fight, you need to go somewhere else. Because in retail, it's constant. You will get up in the morning and what happened the night before will just basically dictate the path that you'll be taking going into the future. It is business at the pace of change. And that is what retail is all about.

Scott W. Luton [00:41:38]:

Oh, I love it. I love your advice, your advice out there, folks. If you don't like change, man, don't get in retail. Get some help somewhere because that's where we are. And thankfully and you know, get inside thankfully, because there's a lot of we're talking about, a lot of it needs to be changed in terms of how we do business, how we do supply chain, how we do retail. And I'm grateful for that.

Bill Thorne [00:41:59]:

Well, it had a big impact on supply chain too. I mean, you think about the folks that you talk to and deal with. I'm going to consistent basis. I mean, just what they went through and trying to figure all of that out. Dear Lord, ships in the middle of the ocean. I do remember, I mean, right afterward when they had the backlogs of the ports, I did fly to Savannah and I remember counting the number of ships at the mouth of the Savannah river and just was like, whoa, that's not good.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:25]:

During a certain stretch there, we had my buddy Greg White, which we co hosted hundreds of shows together, and he had just moved to Hilton Head, and for a stretch there, to your point, Bill, we had a running. Greg White transportation and logistics container metric or something along. You know, we're having a little fun with it. And it was just him counting how many ships were outside of his. His beach house waiting to get in. So we had a lot of fun with that. It's funny now.

Bill Thorne [00:42:52]:

Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:52]:

At the time, Goodness gracious.

Bill Thorne [00:42:53]:

Yeah. Unbelievable.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:55]:

Okay, and folks, I want to make a plug. Retail Gets Real. As Bill mentioned, if you've listened to three or four episodes, he keeps it real, and he loves to focus around the great changes that are taking place in the industry that touches this all. So, Bill, you've got a big. You and the team have got a big accomplishment coming up. So from one podcast host to another, episode 400 is just around the corner. And as I tell people, this might relate. You might agree with it, might disagree with it.

Scott W. Luton [00:43:26]:

I have found in my journey that no one cares about episode numbers except for those that actually do the episodes. I've got a big appreciation for that milestone coming up. So the unfair question then. What's been a couple of your favorite guests and eureka moments that you've had during the show?

Bill Thorne [00:43:46]:

Okay, I will tell you that there was. This is one where I was very concerned that the team had booked a retailer that had this really weird name, and the name of the retailer is Dolls Kill. We were out in San Francisco and we were at one of our conferences, and they were there, and I really just. I don't know that this is a good idea. I met the owners, and I was like, well, we don't have to air it. So we started the conversation. And what Dolls Kill is about, there's this population of young, primarily young girls who you'd say they were Goth or whatever, but were outcasts, basically misfits, and there's a high suicide rate in that particular cohort. And they opened the store originally, it was just a place for these girls to come together.

Bill Thorne [00:44:45]:

And then they started the whole process of bringing in product and selling product and getting the girls to give them advice on what made sense. And it just continued to grow, and it was a place for people to come together. And in this group, they never had anything like that. They were bars or clubs, but they didn't have a place to go just to be themselves and to relate with others. And they built a successful business as a result. And at that time they were. They were expanding from San Francisco to LA and they were going to open another store. But like, when they opened their second store, there was a line that went around the block three times.

Bill Thorne [00:45:25]:

And anyway, what that story told me was something that I believe retail is all about. It's bringing people together. It's a meritocracy inside where if you work hard and you do well, you can succeed. It's a place to join together, to come together with friends, with neighbors, with people, to meet people, to know people. Look, when I took the job at Walmart, in the interview, they said, what is your perception of Walmart? I have a farm that's in southeast Virginia. It's in a very small town, and the Walmart is about 20 miles away. And of course, you know, that's where I would shop. And this is before I went to Walmart, but there was really nowhere else to shop.

Bill Thorne [00:46:02]:

I went to Walmart, and in front of the Walmart, there's these old guys on the benches and they're sitting around, they're smoking cigarettes, they're drinking coffee, they're talking. There's the Girl Scouts that are selling cookies over there. There's a group of women standing around a grocery cart talking. There's kids that are running in and out of the door. And I'm thinking to myself, this is community. This is what community is all about. This is the City hall steps. What used to be the City hall steps is now.

Bill Thorne [00:46:29]:

This is the City Hall. This is where people come together to meet, to catch up, to be the small community and revel in that. And I loved it. I thought that was absolutely fantastic. So what Dolls Kill said to me, I mean, they're small, very small, but they recognize that they could serve a purpose while still conducting business. And they did. And they do to this day. And you don't know about the impact they've had.

Bill Thorne [00:46:56]:

They don't know about a young lady that was suffering from some real hardship and that she was on the verge of maybe doing something harmful to herself and in fact didn't go through with it because she found that store and she found those people. I was totally moved by that episode. Now, that's not to say that there weren't others and that there aren't others that do the same type of thing. But I was so biased against it just based off the name. And I didn't know enough about it that I was ready to veto. And I'm so, so, so glad I didn't.

Scott W. Luton [00:47:28]:

That makes two of us. And I'M gonna go back. I've missed that one. Dolls kill doll saying that, right?

Bill Thorne [00:47:33]:

Kill. That is correct.

Scott W. Luton [00:47:34]:

Okay. And you use the word as you were explaining what they do. That certainly came in purpose and mission. Going back to it's not our tagline, it's our mission. It's what we do. And that bringing people together also elevating the human journey and bringing sanity to those days that, that can be missing sometimes. All right, so as we start to wrap here, a couple final questions I got for you. We're going to learn more about NRF's mission here in just a minute.

Scott W. Luton [00:48:01]:

But before we do, you currently serve as board president for Food & Friends, which is a community based organization in Washington, D.C. where you call home that's doing incredible work. Just from what I've seen, especially for those families in need. What's your favorite aspect to your involvement there?

Bill Thorne [00:48:18]:

Bill? Okay, well, let me just say this. I never consider D.C. home. It's just a place where I, I work. And I'm very fortunate to be able to come here and go other places. But D.C. is so transient. I don't think of it as home.

Bill Thorne [00:48:33]:

And my family's all still in Savannah and my friends are, many of them are still in Savannah. I confuse people all the time because they'll be like, wow, I'm going home. And they'll be, oh. I said, savannah, home. I'm going to be gone for several days. But real home. Yeah. Yeah.

Bill Thorne [00:48:47]:

I mean, I'm very fortunate to live here. It is a great city. They're great people. Very, very good friends. I have a hard time thinking of it as home. However, that being said, Food and Friends is a phenomenal organization. I actually volunteered there back in the 1990s and it was part of a, it was of the where I was working at the time. It was a volunteer day.

Bill Thorne [00:49:09]:

And it's very interesting to me that I live about four blocks from Nationals park in Southeast D.C. their headquarters were in Southeast D.C. and where I volunteered is actually the third base at the Nats Park. So their building was destroyed and it became third base at National Park. So I get to go back to the Food and Friends original place several times a year and think about how wonderful that experience was. What do I love about it? I love the fact that we're making a difference in people's lives. These are people that are mostly homebound, people that wouldn't have these opportunities. And I think the most important thing about what Food and Friends does is that every meal that they do, it's Food is medicine.

Bill Thorne [00:49:49]:

And every meal that they prepare and every client that they have has a nutritionist that they work with to treat their underlying medical issue. So they're eating the foods and they're taking into their bodies the things that are going to help them to heal, to feel better. And the other part about it that I think is incredibly important is we deliver them in person. And so they develop a bond with that. We're talking thousands of meals, but they develop a bond with that person that's delivering that meal. It's wonderful for the drivers, the delivery folks, and it's wonderful for the clients. So it's an organization that's growing. We've just started a capital campaign.

Bill Thorne [00:50:28]:

There's a lot of people that are really in need of this service, and I've been incredibly blessed to be a part of that organization to serve it last year and a half as their president of the board. And I'm confident that they're going to continue to do that work, even in bigger ways. We're going to be taking on sickle cell as another health issue to help people in that condition get better.

Scott W. Luton [00:50:53]:

I appreciate what you shared. And now the name makes perfect sense. It's not just about the nutrition. Well, it's about nutrition maybe two ways. The health wise, food wise, but also from that sense of community and allyship and friendships.

Bill Thorne [00:51:10]:

For sure.

Scott W. Luton [00:51:11]:

I love that. Okay, food and friends. We're going to keep our eye on that organization. What about. So the National Retail Federation, what do you think? At the very top of the center pole in the tent. Right. What aspect of NRF's programming, mission, you name it, should folks know about and how can they get involved?

Bill Thorne [00:51:30]:

All right, so our mission statement is pretty easy. Three words, advocacy, education and communication. And I would say that the tentpole truly is advocacy. It's advocating for the industry, it's advocating for the consumer, it's advocating for the ecosystem. Because one of four jobs depends on a healthy retail industry. I think that we have some great partners, not only in our members, but our affiliates that we work with. Nobody's closer to the consumer than retailers, and nobody's closer to retailers than the National Retail Federation. As I mentioned earlier, communications and public affairs, I believe that Matt was right.

Bill Thorne [00:52:08]:

We need to tell the story, and we need to be impactful. We need to be effective. When I first met with Matt, I told him, I looked at their website, the NRF website at the time, and I said I thought I knew who NRF was and what they did. I went to the website and Now I'm more confused than I ever was. And I think now we have a pretty righteous website, but that's our first impression. And so if people go to the website and they can't navigate and it looks stupid and there's nothing there that they're interested in, they'll never come back. I think we've got compelling content and I think it's easy to find through advocacy. Again, we're here in Washington D.C.

Bill Thorne [00:52:42]:

it's the Congress, it's the administration, it's the regulatory agencies, it's everybody that impacts our business making sure that our business and our concerns are being considered. Look, there's no other industry in America that has the presence that we have. There's not a state legislative district that doesn't have retail. There's not a state congressional district that doesn't have retail. They may not have a hospital, they may not have an automobile dealership, they may not have a fast food restaurant, but they're going to have retail. And so we have a great story to tell. Retail on Main Street. It's not all about big box.

Bill Thorne [00:53:17]:

It's about the entrepreneur that decides that this is what they want to do and they do it. It becomes part of their lives and it's about the families that have had to store for generations and we want to make sure that they are able to do what they want to do and we want to make sure that people aren't putting up hurdles because they don't understand what those hurdles mean to those businesses and their ability to succeed. So as you can tell, I'm a bit passionate about retail but it's for good reason. It's an unbelievable industry that just going to say it that impacts everyone, everywhere, every day.

Scott W. Luton [00:53:52]:

I'm with you man. You got me ready to run through that wall back behind me there, Bill. And one in four jobs beyond all the passion inside man, bottom line impact one in four jobs a retail industry supports. By the way, folks want to learn more about advocacy or education or any of your programming. How can they get involved with NRF?

Bill Thorne [00:54:14]:

Yep, first and best place to go is nrf.com and you can reach us there. You'll find all of our email addresses there but I'll just tell you it's Thorne thorneb@nrf.com if you have any questions or if there's anything I can do to help you in that journey, let me know.

Scott W. Luton [00:54:31]:

Awesome. Check all that out folks. Nrf.com also check out NRF Big Show especially if you'd like to connect in Person with one of the biggest and best industry shows of each and every year. And you've got some secret weapons. Bill, I've been fortunate to rub elbows with a couple of your dear friends and colleagues, like John Gold, who is a dynamo. We. I was just talking with him to try to help me and our. Our global community try to understand what's going on with this hour by hour trade policy stuff.

Bill Thorne [00:55:02]:

Good luck. If you can figure that one out, let me know.

Scott W. Luton [00:55:06]:

Man, if I can figure that out, I'm gonna box it and put it on shelves everywhere. And then secondly, of course, Tony Sciarrotta and the Reverse Logistics Association (RLA), which joined the NRF ecosystem, I think last year.

Bill Thorne [00:55:17]:

Officially, I believe so.

Scott W. Luton [00:55:18]:

And you were talking about. It's one of our favorite aspects. I think Tony has long called it the dark side because it's misunderstood. It's under recognized. Whether you're consumers or practitioners, there's a lot of folks that don't understand reverse logistics and returns management. But Bill, I know you're passionate about that as well. And I'm looking. I mean, gosh, Tony and RLA have come so far in such a short amount of time.

Scott W. Luton [00:55:40]:

I can't wait to see what's next for Tony in the game.

Bill Thorne [00:55:43]:

Yep. I'm excited that they're a part of the team. And I think that that particular issue is incredibly important as we talk about the responsibility that we have to not just to our customers, but to globally, what's happening through the climate, globally, what's happening with sustainability, globally, what we can do to lessen the burdens that we find ourselves under now. And I think that Tony and the Reverse Logistics Association is going to be a big part of helping us to tell that story.

Scott W. Luton [00:56:11]:

Bill, I'm with you. I am with you and consumers out there, whether you're in supply chain or an outside supply chain. We all can do what Bill's suggesting. We all can make a big difference just by the actions we take each and every day. Oh, Scott Case. I can't say sustainability without tipping hat on Scott Case, who was a great guest in previous shows. Okay. Bill Thorne.

Bill Thorne [00:56:32]:

Yes.

Scott W. Luton [00:56:33]:

Excellent episode. I've been to have you back. What's that?

Bill Thorne [00:56:36]:

I enjoyed the hell out of it. That was great. I can't believe it's been an hour. That is unbelievable. I mean, when you first asked, I was like an hour. I don't know that I can talk for an hour. Shoot. I.

Bill Thorne [00:56:45]:

Give me 30 more minutes. I'd love that.

Scott W. Luton [00:56:49]:

That's what everybody says, Bill. Everybody says, hey, really quick, the 5 and 10 is one of our favorite restaurants in Athens. When you go back, what's one of your favorite restaurants here in Athens you'd recommend?

Bill Thorne [00:56:58]:

Closed it.

Scott W. Luton [00:56:59]:

Oh, they did the Mayflower.

Bill Thorne [00:57:02]:

I that was my go to when I was in college, I worked at a radio station wgau and I would go there, I always went to the Mayflower for breakfast. They had that on. And I would listen to myself do the news because it was pre recorded. But my poor friends that would go be like, I'm sorry, we've got to go to the Mayflower. I don't care if you're not hungry. I don't care if you're allergic to eggs. We're going to the Mayflower for breakfast. So they just close it.

Bill Thorne [00:57:27]:

I and so what's my favorite now? I don't know that I have a favorite. And then they took the varsity away and it just. These are all my go tos. So I'm not so old that I can't find a new go to and I will. We'll talk again, Scott. I'll have one for you.

Scott W. Luton [00:57:43]:

Hey. Oh, I know you will. And we're going to have to meet up in Athens and break some bread together. Bill Thorne, senior vice president for communications research and marketing at the National Retail Federation, also host of the popular podcast Retail Gets Real. Find it wherever you get your podcast from. And as you all can tell here, folks, Bill keeps it real on that podcast and every other conversation. Bill, thanks for being here.

Bill Thorne [00:58:06]:

Scott. Thank you so much for having me. I've enjoyed it.

Scott W. Luton [00:58:08]:

I have too, man. What a great show, folks. To all of our audience members out there, hopefully you've enjoyed this chat with Bill Thorne as much as I have. But you've got homework. You got to take something you heard here today and put it into practice. Because, folks, it's all about deeds, not words. That's how we change this wonderful industry that we call home. With all that said, Scott Luton, challenging all of our audience members out there.

Scott W. Luton [00:58:30]:

Do good, give forward, be the change that's needed. Let's make that our mission, not just our tagline. On that note, we'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now. Thanks, everybody.

Bill Thorne [00:58:42]:

Thanks for being a part of our Supply Chain Now community. Check out all of our programming at SupplyChainNow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain Now.