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Karl Bracken, Executive Vice President, Merchandising & Private Brands, Guitar Center Inc.

Karl Bracken, Executive Vice President, Merchandising & Private Brands, Guitar Center Inc.

Karl Bracken, Founder OCampo Capital appointed RMI Board Vice Chair, says the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University has every right to be seen as the Worldwide Retail Industry Thought Leader.

Karl Bracken, Founder OCampo Capital appointed RMI Board Vice Chair, says the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University has every right to be seen as the Worldwide Retail Industry Thought Leader,

Date: November 04, 2024

Q: Could you provide a brief overview of your background and your journey into the retail industry?
I started my career in Finance at J.P. Morgan after graduating from Claremont McKenna College.  After five years in Finance, including working in San Francisco in the Venture Capital group during the .com bubble, I felt I needed to learn how to run an operational business.  That decision brought me to Chicago to get my MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and then to Minneapolis to Target Corporation's headquarters.  What started as a MBA summer internship at Target turned into a fifteen year career there: my first eight years in Merchandising, then leading Inventory Management for the Company, and then developing a vision for how we could use our store back rooms as mini distribution centers.  That became the Supply Chain Transformation initiative, which I oversaw for 3 1/2 years.  After leaving Target, and a brief stint as COO of a beauty manufacturer, I went to Guitar Center where I was Chief Merchant and Chief Supply Chain Officer until about a year and a half ago.  Since leaving Guitar Center, I have founded a venture capital firm called Ocampo Capital whose purpose is to invest in early consumer companies, and to help them grow and get placement in retailers.  We typically look to invest in companies in consumable categories such as Food and Beverage, Beauty, Personal Care, Household Goods, Pets, and Health & Wellness- which are doing between $1 million and $5 million in revenue and are excited about having us help them refine and improve their operations.  Recently, many venture capital firms have pulled away from investing in consumer businesses- but the quality of the companies is higher than ever, so we hope to fill the void.
 
Q: What motivated you to join the Retail Studies Institute as a board member?
When I was at Guitar Center, the leadership team spent a day at Google where we were learning about their retail capabilities.  I happened to meet Professor Kalyanam that day at Google, and we quickly struck up a friendship talking about Target's ship from store opportunity areas.  I was very impressed by him, and as I learned more about Santa Clara University's Retail Studies program, I wanted to become a part of it.  What Santa Clara is doing in Retail Studies is very impressive- and the future is bright!
 
Q: What are some of the most significant changes that you have observed in the retail industry in your career?
What is great about retail is also what is so challenging about it: consumers are fickle and their preferences are dynamic.  Therefore, the change is constant.  When I started my career in retail, there were no smart phones, eCommerce was under 2% of retail sales and an afterthought for most brick and mortar retailers, and supply chains were very rigid.  The emergence of smart phones has made pricing and inventory availability totally transparent across retailers; eCommerce is now over 15% of retail sales and a huge focus for nearly all retailers; and supply chains have had to be entirely re-imagined to be dynamic across channels and time.  And now, with the rise of social commerce, retailers are beginning to rethink their consumer-facing strategies all over again.
 
Q: What is one of the most significant achievements that you are proud of in your career?
I am very proud of what we achieved in the Supply Chain Transformation at Target.  What started as an idea in a short Powerpoint deck which I presented to the Target COO in 2012 or 2013, over time became a team of 150 people developing significant new capabilities for Target in order to use store back rooms as fulfillment nodes.  In 2013, Target fulfilled 0% of online demand from stores.  Today, at peak, they fulfill 98% of online demand from store back rooms via ship from store and pick up in store- which allows them to have same-day delivery when required, to be able to have virtually zero online out of stocks on items carried in stores, and to significantly reduce clearance markdowns.  Leading that team, and bringing that concept to reality, was a real highlight of my career.
 
Q: What inspired you to take on the role of Advisory Board Vice Chair?
I think Santa Clara University has every right to be seen as the worldwide retail industry thought leader.  The Advisory Board is comprised of highly talented and accomplished retail industry veterans, and it has been an honor to be a part of it over the past few years.  And now, to have the opportunity as the Vice Chair to help further define and propel forward Santa Clara University as a retail industry worldwide center of excellence was an incredible opportunity.  I am so excited for the future of the Santa Clara University Retail Studies Institute and how we can help inspire and develop the retail leaders of tomorrow.
 
Q: As the Advisory Board Vice Chair, what contributions do you hope to make to our students' educational experience and professional development?
I love coming to campus and presenting to the students on retail-related topics, and hope to continue to do so.  This industry is so dynamic that it is always interesting and there is no limit to the topics to discuss.  But more importantly, I believe it is imperative that students develop a lens through which they can understand and anticipate changes occurring in this industry, so they will be able to stay ahead of the series of waves of change which will always impact retail.  This can be achieved in the classroom, through interactions with the institute advisory board, and through on-the-job experiences such as retail internships.  I view it as part of our commitment to Santa Clara University to continue to grow the partnerships with retailers- in order to offer high-quality internship opportunities to students.
 
Q: In your opinion, which up-and-coming retail brand / retail trends should our students and community keep an eye on?
I am currently fascinated by the growth of the social media selling channel, such as TikTok Shop.  The extent to which that has exploded onto the scene in the last year or two is incredible- and retailers that are not watching that trend closely are going to be left behind.

 

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