Merchants have played a role in societies since ancient times, and in so many ways, acted as de facto ambassadors across continents and cultures. The ‘merchant class’ represented the one of the earliest versions of the middle class; people with little or no inherited wealth who managed to cultivate status through their adventurous personas, access to goods, and knowledge of people’s tastes and customs across continents.

Funny enough, between ancient times and the birth of e-commerce, a lot about retail stayed much the same. While retail was always ‘business’, it was also a bit of a game where the players prided themselves on their taste level, on knowing where to have things made or sourced from, and on sensing what customers will want this year, but also in the coming years too.

For a long time, retail was one of the few respected industries where one could make do without any sort of advanced degree or really any certification at all. Simply put: you had it or you didn’t, and because of this, retail was full of colorful types: generational shopkeepers, ‘garmentos’, importers, immigrants. It often became the home for creative, curious, or ambitious types who may not have thrived in school or didn’t find a calling in a more traditional profession.

Philosophically: Can innovation ever take place in an echo chamber?

Recently, through conversations, it would seem that a lot of us have grown disillusioned with brands and businesses whose products and stores are underwhelming, when the ‘instagrammable moment’ is too easily identifiable in the store or restaurant, etc. Much has been written about the current desire for authenticity to the point that ‘authenticity’ now feels like a buzzword too, but on top of that, I’ve begun to wonder if we need to restore value to the idea of a distinct ‘point of view’, that ‘the audience’ can’t tell us everything, and that we need leadership, in both small and big ways.

Amanda Greeley • Retail Romanticism Revivalism