Retail Pioneers: 20 leaders that shaped the industry

Jeff Bezos

When Amazon first launched in 1994, a bell would ring in the fledgling company’s headquarters in Seattle every time an order was placed. Within a matter of weeks, the bell was ringing so frequently as the orders came in that employees had to turn it off. It was a harbinger of things to come.

It’s a fact that Jeff Bezos jumpstarted e-commerce, with a virtual store offering a larger inventory — and lower prices — than most physical stores. But more than that, Bezos, with his unwavering obsession to always put the customer first, was a disruptor. He transformed the way consumers shop and interact, both online and in physical stores. In so doing, he created a trillion-dollar global empire that has grown to affect the daily lives of most consumers.

A risk-taker since day one, Bezos’ willingness to invest in long-term infrastructure (even in the face of losses) and focus on constant innovation created new benchmarks across retail. His belief that speed and reliability were critical to customer satisfaction led the company to such offerings as Amazon Prime, which upon launch in 2005, offered free two-day shipping for an annual membership fee. It proved to be a game-changer, driving customer loyalty and setting a new standard for delivery speeds across the industry — something that Amazon continues to do.

Maxine Clark

Maxine Clark wasn’t looking for the next big thing in retail when she went on a shopping trip in 1996 with her 10-year-old next door neighbor.

The young girl wanted a Beanie Baby, small plush toys that were riding a wave of popularity at the time. When they couldn’t find the one she looking for, the girl said it might be easy to make the plush collectible at home. A light bulb went off in Clark’s head. A year later, the first Build-A-Bear-Workshop opened its doors.

The idea of an interactive and hands-on experience in a brick-and-mortar store where customers could make their own personalized stuffed teddy was unusual to say the least. It had no template. Clark drew on the 19 years she had spent in various executive roles at May Department Stores and also from global field trips and travels to Disneyland. She envisioned the store would be like a theme park factory in a mall. It would be fun, interactive and personal all at the same time. There was a line outside the door when Build-A-Bear Workshop made its debut, at the St. Louis Galleria. The founder put up her own capital to launch the concept. Investors soon followed.

Credit Clark for not only creating a retail phenomenon, but for pioneering a concept that that is more relevant today than when she first opened shop: interactive experiential retail.

Michael Cullen

The former A&P and Kroger manager was the founder of King Kullen Grocery Co., which industry experts — and the Smithsonian Institution — credit as America’s first supermarket.

While employed by Kroger in Illinois, Cullen wrote a letter to a Kroger VP describing a vision that would eventually revolutionize food retailing. He detailed a strategy that included “monstrous stores” that were about 40 feet wide and 130 to 160 feet deep, had “plenty of parking space” and were 80% self-service (meaning shoppers could pick most items off the shelves). Low prices and cash sales were other parts of his formula.

The letter went unanswered so Cullen took matters into his own hands. In 1930, he opened King Kullen in the Queens borough of New York City. With innovations that included separate food departments, a parking lot, 10 times more products than other grocery stores and discount pricing on many items, the store was an overnight success — and the talk of the industry. Shoppers loved the convenience of having all their food needs under one roof — and they also loved the prices.

Cullen’s strategy of high volume at low profit margins, large stores stocked with a vast array of products and ample parking ushered in a grocery model that would go on to serve as a prototype for the modern supermarket. Amazingly, in an era of consolidation, some five generations later, King Kullen is still family controlled and operated.

Harry Cunningham

Before Sam Walton, there was a retailer named Harry Cunningham, who pioneered the concept of discount mass merchandising on a national scale at Kmart. His foresight was evident early on when, as sales director of the famed S.S. Kresge Company in the early 1950s, he proposed that the variety store chain (or five and dimes as they were then known) use the same upfront checkout system that was gaining popularity in supermarkets.

Cunningham saw the light when he visited a new discount store, E.J. Korvette, in Garden City, N.Y. Convinced that discounting — low prices and margins with high-volume turnover in large stores — was the future of retail (and that the five-and-dime business was on the way out) he proposed that Kresge start a new operation. The stores would be big and sell a wide variety of products at a discount. 

Kresge bought into the idea and Cunningham started a new retail division that, in 1962, opened the first Kmart. Owing to Kresge’s resources, Kmart had expanded to 162 locations only four years later. Averaging 75,000 sq. ft. on one floor, the stores were enormous for the time and packed with merchandise.

Cunningham served as a role model for the founder of Walmart, who paid homage to the Kmart founder in his autobiography. Walton wrote that Cunningham “really designed and built the first discount store as we know it today.”

Don Fisher

To a very large degree, the idea of denim as basic fashion with a niche onto itself came out of one man’s frustration over not being able to find the right pair of jeans.

In 1969, San Francisco real estate developer Don Fisher visited various department stores in search of jeans that fit his body. Back then, stores only carried the most common Levi's sizes and a narrow selection of styles. Unhappy with the choices, Fisher, who had no retail experience, and his wife opened a small shop in 1969 in San Francisco called The Gap (short for Generation Gap). Aimed at teens and young adults, the store stocked every size, cut and style of men’s Levi's jeans, along with records and tapes. (Women’s merchandise was added to the mix a year later.)

He kept the place well stocked and well organized to make finding the right size easy. Business boomed and in 1974, the Fishers launched their own Gap label. National expansion in the country’s growing mall scene followed. So did the company’s portfolio as it added new, distinct banners, all affordable and each carrying their own label.

Fisher is credited with not only being among the first to popularize mass private label fashion, but also as being one of the first retailers to target teens, a market whose influence has grown exponentially since he opened the first Gap.

Ray Kroc

Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile — but he did create the most efficient way to make and market them. 

Similarly, Ray Kroc, the Henry Ford of food, didn’t invent the hamburger or the fast-food restaurant. But his innovations at McDonald’s changed the way most hamburgers are made and sold and globalized American fast food. He was a trailblazer in automating and standardizing operations. 

When Multimixer salesman Kroc visited the original McDonald brothers’ fast-food restaurant in 1954 in San Bernardino, Calif., he saw the makings of a franchise empire based on quick, convenient and quality food. First opening franchises and then the company in 1961, Kroc standardized food offerings, sizes, packaging and even maintenance for all franchisees to create consistency and efficiency across the growing chain — ensuring that the chain’s french fry tasted the same regardless of the location.

Under Kroc’s leadership, McDonald’s redefined how Americans ate. Kroc’s insistence on consistency, efficiency and innovative marketing (which made McDonald’s a household name) would go on to set the standard for the modern fast-food industry.

Kroc’s was also a pioneering marketer. His innovations include the creation of Ronald McDonald, bundling food into Value and Happy Meals (an early example of non-toy marketing to children) and international expansion, from Canada in 1967 to more than 120 countries. Today, it remains a symbol of fast food, but of America itself.

Ralph Lauren 

Without Ralph Lauren, luxury retail might have looked a lot different than it does today. Lauren opened the door to the high-end designer boutiques that populate today’s A-level malls and prime shopping streets when, in 1971, he became the first American designer to open a freestanding store, on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif. (In 1983, Lauren became the first fashion designer to launch a home collection in 1983.)

Lauren’s mastery of — and innovative approach to — in-store branding set new standards in the industry. He revolutionized retail by selling not just clothing but an entire lifestyle — one built on his vision of classic American style and spirit. His brick and mortar stores were, and still are, aspirational, creating a brand universe onto themselves and influencing retail design trends across the spectrum.

The iconic designer was a pioneer of story-driven retail experiences, a concept that has since been embraced by retailers high and low. He also paved the way for designer eateries as one of the first designers to open a restaurant, launching RL in 1999 next to his Chicago flagship.

Charles Lazarus

Charles Lazarus embodied all the qualities on which the retail industry is built: entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. The original Toys“R”Us kid, Lazarus helped pioneer the big-box movement when he opened a "toy supermarket" back in the late 1950s.

The World War II veteran cut his teeth in retail in 1948, when he opened Children’s Bargain Town in Washington, D.C. It sold baby goods with a few toys in the mix. He thought the timing was right — a post-war baby boom had set in.

As toy sales increased, Lazarus increased the assortment and his vision grew bigger. He got out of the baby goods business when he realized that toys were a more lucrative market — especially when it came to repeat customer. He opened his first location under the Toys“R”Us banner in 1957. The large supermarket-styled store was piled high with the latest toys and games. Complete with shopping carts, it was like no other toy store in America.

The company grew fast, opening cavernous big-box stores across the country. Its growing scale gave Lazarus the power to negotiate contracts and buy toys for cheaper than his competitors. Lazarus revolutionized the toy industry with Toys“R”Us’ cookie-cutter uniformity, one-price discount policy and deep inventory. His business model become the template for a new retail format: category killers, big stores dedicated to one category.

John Mackey

John Mackey, the co-founder of Whole Foods Market, changed the way shoppers perceive — and shop for — natural and organic foods. In making natural groceries mainstream and available for the first time on a mass scale, he changed the grocery landscape.

The first Whole Foods opened in 1980 in Austin, Texas, co-founded by Mackey and several other local business folks who decided the natural foods industry was ready for a supermarket format. They didn’t know how right they were.

At 10,500 sq. ft., the original Whole Foods store was very large in comparison to the standard health food store of the time. And to appeal to a larger audience (and avoid some of the didactic penchants of natural food sellers), it had a wider array of product. 

The store was a sensation. Starting in 1984, the company began its aggressive expansion, with both new builds and acquisitions. The stores were sleek, attractive and increasingly sophisticated.

Mackey led Whole Foods as CEO for 40 years. During that time, he popularized the concept of high-quality, organic food with a focus on local growers, sustainable agriculture, healthy eating and ethical sourcing (all while growing a billion-dollar empire). Consumers took note and so did retailers. Today, even the most mainstream grocers tout organic foods and have natural products in their mix.

Bernard Marcus & Arthur Blank

The two men who transformed the home improvement retail landscape dreamed up their concept at a coffee shop in Los Angeles in 1978. Back then, the home improvement market was fragmented, with mostly small, locally owned stores. Sitting in the shop, Marcus and Blank envisioned something different.

In what’s been described as a corporate power move, the two had recently been fired from Handy Dan hardware chain, where Marcus was CEO and Blank was VP of finance. Looking to the future, they envisioned a one-stop shopping destination for do-it-yourselfers, one that would offer a huge variety of merchandise at great prices and boast a highly trained staff. As they saw it, the employees would not only be able to sell, but they would also be able to walk customers through most any home repair or improvement.

With help from investment banker Ken Langone and merchandising consultant Pat Farrah, Marcus and Blank opened the first two Home Depot stores in 1979, in Atlanta. The 60,000 sq. ft. warehouses dwarfed the competition and stocked 25,000 products — much more than any other hardware store — under one roof.

With its vast array of products, knowledgeable staff and "do-it-yourself" philosophy, Marcus and Blank created a retail giant that transformed the home improvement experience.

Sol Price

If any retailer was aptly named, it was Sol Price, creator of a big-box format that reinvented value retail: the members-only warehouse club. His members-only warehouses had little-to-no visual merchandising or advertising, just low prices and friendly service. His vision spawned a $626 billion industry.

Price started his retail career in 1954, when he and several partners opened FedMart, a discount membership warehouse whose membership base was limited to government employees and their families. The company was sold in the mid-1970s and Price lost his job.

Price and his son Robert launched Price Club in 1976. Located in a cavernous former airplane parts factory in San Diego, it sold varied goods from tires to books to food at vast discounts to business customers. Its growth took off when membership was extended to the general public.

The format upending the traditional retail model — and not only in its membership fees. The choice of goods was limited, with merchandise stacked on tall, industrial-looking racks, with the items often still wrapped from the shipping containers. The stores were vast, with concrete floors and no décor.

By the time Price Club merged with competitor Costco in 1993, the membership warehouse club was on the way to becoming the global phenomenon it is today.

Gordon Segal

It began, fittingly, in a kitchen, where Gordon Segal and wife Carole were washing the simple but elegant dishes they had bought in New York. Inspired by their European and Caribbean travels, the styles weren’t available affordably close to their Chicago home in 1962.

Figuring there were other young couples who had more taste than money, they decided to open their own store. The result not only changed how Americans buy dinnerware and other home items, but defined a contemporary style that has influenced other home furnishings stores from Arhaus to Pottery Barn to RH.

The first Crate & Barrel opened in 1962, in an old elevator factory in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. The name was a nod to the upended shipping crates and barrels that were used to display merchandise.
The small store quickly created a buzz for its merchandise, which was not only affordable but had a different look and offered a more modern alternative than the houseware items available in conventional houseware stores. Instead of working with wholesalers like other retailers, Segal had directly contacted small Scandinavian and European glassware and kitchen goods manufacturers.

From the one small store, grew a retail chain that would set a new tone for home goods, one blended design, functionality and durability at low prices.

Howard Schultz

Unlike in Europe and the Middle East, drinking coffee as a social activity was never really a “thing” in U.S. — at least not until Howard Schultz came along. By making a coffee shop not just a place to pick up caffeine, but a hangout and even workplace, Schultz created one the most recognizable brands in the world. But his greatest accomplishment is the transformation of a commodity into a cultural phenomenon, one that developed into its own niche, with countless imitators.

In 1981, Schultz walked into Starbucks’ shop in Seattle’s Pike Place. A year later, he joined the four-store company to lead operations and marketing. On a visit to Milan in 1983, Schultz was captivated by the country’s coffee bars, which could be found on almost every block. More than just serve espresso, the bars served as meeting places for the locals.

The visit inspired Schultz to bring a similar concept to America. But Starbucks’ owners were resistant to the idea, so Schutlz left the company in 1985 and started his own coffeehouse chain. Two years later, he bought Starbucks and merged it with his company.

Under his leadership, Starbucks launched an aggressive strategy that focused not only on premium coffee beverages, but creating a "third place" between home and work. Other retailers would follow his example, adding dedicated spaces in their stores where customers could relax with a beverage and lounge.

Geraldine Stutz

The “merchant princess” — as she was known in her heyday — transformed Henri Bendel in New York City from a carriage trade retailer in decline into a trendy emporium of new designer brands starting in the 1960s. In so doing, she also created a model that revolutionized the modern department store and retailing in general — one that is as strong today as it ever was.

It was Stutz who, as president of Bendel, revamped the main floor of the store into a series of small shops dedicated to exclusive goods, various brands and designers. A radical idea at the time, Stutz’s “Street of Shops” concept proved a big hit with shoppers. It also pioneered what would evolve into a prevalent industry trend: in-store shops. Stutz is also credited with being the first to come up with the notion — now widely embraced by brands across the spectrum — that fashion was more than just clothing. It was about lifestyle, a reflection of identity, culture and values, encompassing everything from clothes to home décor.

Her philosophy was embodied throughout Bendel’s, from the perfumed candles and scented potpourri that greeted customers when they entered to its innovative, lush visual merchandising and its carefully curated selection of products.

Marvin Traub

In the 1960s, Bloomingdale’s was anything but the epitome of luxury, style and glamour that it’s long been synonymous  with. Instead, it was a stodgy family department store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. 

Enter Marvin Traub, a visionary merchant who saw retail as theater and himself as the impresario. Born in 1925 to an apparel executive and a Bonwit Teller saleswoman, Traub knew style when he saw it. He joined Bloomingdale’s in 1950, in charge of the bargain basement, and was named president in 1969 (and CEO in 1978).

Traub revamped the Bloomingdale’s brand as he rose through the ranks, introducing up-and-coming designers such as a young Ralph Lauren. He staged fancy galas and exotic elaborately produced promotions that saluted the likes of China and France with exclusive, sometime rare merchandise and Broadway-like openings. He brought the same type of razzle-dazzle to store openings as Bloomingdale’s expanded.

Under Traub’s watch, Bloomingdale’s became a must-shop destination. Its repute was such that when Queen Elizabeth II had one day in the U.S. to commemorate the Bicentennial, she visited one store — Bloomie’s 59th Street Flagship.

Traub’s influence extended far beyond the confines of Bloomingdale’s. He brought an élan and sense of style to the store’s displays that continues to influence retailers. And his marketing prowess for image-making and creating brand buzz remains the gold standard.

Sam Walton

Considered the most successful and astute merchant of his time, Walton founded Wal-Mart with a single store in 1962. By 1991, the chain passed Sears, Roebuck & Company to become the nation's largest retailer, with its growth driven by low prices, high sales volume and a growing footprint.

Walton created Wal-Mart with an idea — dismissed by most other retailers at the time — that large discount stores could thrive in small towns and rural areas. His strategy involved aggressive expansion, which allowed the retailer to negotiate favorable prices with suppliers, further lowering costs.

Equally important to the chain’s success was Walton’s focus on efficiency, particularly in the supply chain. Walmart was far ahead of its competitors in developing a cutting-edge distribution network. And while the Walmart supply chain has seen huge overhauls, it remains one of the most efficient in retail. 

Perennially at the top of Forbes magazine’s annual list of America’s richest people, Walton was famously thrifty and unassuming. On his many trips to visit Walmart stores (where he was called Mr. Sam), he rented subcompact cars and stayed at budget motels or in the homes of store managers. 

Weeks before he died in 1992, Walton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, and hailed as "American original" who "embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and epitomizes the American dream."

Walton's vision of providing everyday low prices to consumers led to the creation of Walmart in 1962. By implementing efficient supply chain management and offering a vast selection of goods at affordable prices, Walmart became a retail giant, fundamentally reshaping the discount retail model.

Les Wexner

Lex Wexner — the man considered by many industry experts to be the father of modern apparel specialty retailing — got his start in 1963 when, using a $5,000 loan from his aunt, he opened a store at the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Arlington, Ohio.

He called it The Limited to reflect the limited amount of merchandise it carried (mostly young women’s tops and pants). It was the beginning of a global retail empire that would grow to encompass apparel, lingerie and beauty brands, some of which Wexner developed, some of which he acquired. (At its height, the company had 11 different banners under its umbrella.)

When he stepped down in 2020, Les Wexner was the longest-serving CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Wexner was among the first merchants to grasp the importance of niche retailing and vertical integration. He developed a vast network of suppliers in foreign countries that could manufacture goods inexpensively under his own private label, allowing The Limited to respond to the latest fastest trends with a speed that — in the chain’s glory days — its competitors could not match.

A master in branding, Wexner also helped revolutionize specialty store design, blending ambience, merchandise and décor into powerful brand statements.

Meg Whitman

A trailblazer for women in business, Meg Whitman turned a small online auction platform into a global e-commerce juggernaut. When Whitman joined eBay as CEO in 1998, the startup company had revenues of about $4 million. She leveraged her experience in consumer brands (among other things, she managed the marketing of the Mr. Potato Head brand for Hasbro) to transform the site into the world’s largest e-commerce auction.

Under Whitman’s leadership, eBay grew from 30 employees to over 15,000, and the company's user base surged from a few hundred to millions worldwide. By the time she stepped down in 2009, eBay’s revenue had soared to nearly $8 billion. Its success not only paved the way for the online marketplaces that flourish in today’s retail landscape, but also for the second-hand shopping revolution.

Whitman’s legacy in retail goes far beyond bidding-and-selling online. It includes the growth of other businesses under the eBay umbrella, including alternative payments company PayPay, which eBay bought under Whitman’s watch. It now holds 45% of the global payments market share.

Equally important, Whitman's accomplishments at eBay paved the way for other women to take on leadership roles in the tech sector.

Robert Wood

A retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army is often called the forgotten man who changed retail.

In 1919, 40-year-old General Robert Wood joined Montgomery Ward. The business, a mail-order catalog at the time similar to its rival Sears, was almost entirely dependent on the American farmer. Wood was offered a job at Sears, Roebuck and Co. He took it on the condition that the company would let him open a store. 

In 1925, Sears opened a test retail store on the first floor of its Chicago mail-order plant. By the end of 1925, seven more stores opened. Three years later, Wood became the the president of Sears. By 1929, it operated more than 300 department stores.

Wood reinvented the notion of department stores which, back then, were located in the center of cities and dependent on public transportation. He was an early believer that automobile would soon make urban centers more accessible to outlying areas, broadening the customer base. Wood opened Sears stores in outlying places near highways. The stores had free parking (the first chain to do so). And while the older department stores catered to women, Wood expanded his stores’ assortment to include menswear and hard lines as well.

Sears would go on to become, in its heyday, the largest retailer in America. But its legacy is more than that. Sears served as a model that would bring department stores into a new age.