Mark Cohen
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Director of Retail Studies
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Marketing Division
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Adjunct Professor of Business
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Marketing Division
- Areas of Expertise
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- Brand and Product Management
- Consumer Behavior
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation
- Leadership & Organizational Behavior
- Marketing
- Marketplace Design
- Links
- Curriculum Vitae
Mark A. Cohen has been in the retail business since his graduation from Columbia University in 1971. (MBA '71, BS Electrical Engineering '69) He has over 20 years experience in president/chairman, chief executive officer level positions. Most recently he was Chairman/CEO of Sears Canada Inc, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Softlines of Sears Roebuck & Co., Chairman/CEO of Bradlees Inc., and Chairman/CEO of Lazarus Department Stores. He has also held positions with Abraham & Strauss, The Gap, Lord Taylor, Mervyn's and Goldsmith's Department Stores. He has been a Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business since 2006 teaching courses in Retailing Leadership, Retail Fundamentals, and a Master Class in Creating a Retail Enterprise. He is currently Director of Retail Studies. He also serves as an independent consultant to both the retail and consumer products industry.
- Education
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All Activities
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- Course
B8652: Retail Fundamentals
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- Course
B8698: Creation of a Retail Enterprise (Master Class)
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- Course
B8653: Retailing Leadership
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- In the Media
5 Challenges Awaiting Amazon's New CEO
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- In the Media
A $2 Trillion Boost from Congress Is a Good Start. Expect More
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- In the Media
A Look at Why Retailers May Be Closing So Many Stores
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- In the Media
Amazon to Hire 100,000 Warehouse and Delivery Workers Amid Coronavirus Shutdowns
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- In the Media
Amazon Warehouse Workers Reject Union Bid in Alabama
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- In the Media
Amazon Workers in NYC Vote to Unionize in Historic Labor Win
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- In the Media
Amid Inflation Woes, Off-Price Retailers Like Dick's Going Going Gone Fare Well
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- In the Media
An Inside Look at the Vicious Cycle That Fuels the Fashion Industry, Where Rich White People Determine Beauty Standards and Who Gets Access in the First Place
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- In the Media
Apparel and Accessories Suffer a Catastrophic 52% Sales Decline in March
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- In the Media
April Retail Sales Plunge a Record 16.4% Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
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- In the Media
As COVID-19 Cases Spike, Retail Enters a New Normal
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- In the Media
As Department Stores Struggle, Nordstrom Makes a Play in New York City
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- In the Media
Bose Closing Of Brick-And-Mortar Stores Is Expected To Boost Profits
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- In the Media
Columbia's Cohen: Macy's Future Uncertain
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- In the Media
Consumers Are - Mostly - Putting Spending on Hold While They Wait for Election Results
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- In the Media
Consumers Are Pulling Back on Spending. They're Also Tapping Savings and Taking on Debt.
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- In the Media
Consumers Dialed Back Their Spending in May, Thanks to Rising Prices and Interest Rates
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- In the Media
Coronavirus and Luxury Retail: Shopping for Used Hermes, Cartier in Covid Era
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- In the Media
Coronavirus Safety at 'Essential' Supermarkets, Food Retail Evolving as Supply Chain Strains
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- In the Media
Coronavirus Will Probably Not Force the US to Run out of Food
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- In the Media
Death by a Thousand Emojis': All 254 Papyrus Stores Closing
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- In the Media
Despite Higher Prices, McDonald's, Kraft Heinz and Coca-Cola Post Solid Earnings.
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- In the Media
Do You Really Need to Do Holiday Shopping Early?
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- In the Media
Experts Say 'Elastic Waist' Clothing Is Trending - Here Are 30 Comfortable Options
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- In the Media
Fairway Is So Crowded! How Can It Be in Bankruptcy?
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- In the Media
Flush from Reddit Rally, GameStop Plots Store Revival
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- In the Media
Forever 21 Bankruptcy Signals a Shift in Consumer Tastes
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- In the Media
Forever 21's Business Model Was Way Out of Fashion
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- In the Media
Former Zappos Chief Tony Hsieh Exalted Customer Service, Set High Bar for Rivals
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- In the Media
Furloughs at Macy's, Gannett and Gap Signal Mounting Economic Distress
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- In the Media
H&M, Staples, and Primark Are Refusing to Pay Rent, and It's Setting a Dangerous Precedent That Could Squeeze Retail Landlords Globally
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- In the Media
Hal Lawton out at Macy's
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- In the Media
Hard-Hit Retailers Projected to Shutter as Many as 25,000 Stores This Year, Mostly in Malls
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- In the Media
How Amazon Plans to Fix Its Massive Returns Problem
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- In the Media
How Brookfield Avoided Slamming into a Brick-and-Mortar Wall - with a Little Help from Its Frenemies
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- In the Media
How to Prove You're Vaccinated as More Venues Make It Mandatory
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- In the Media
How Will Walmart Keep Its Sales Growth Going?
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- In the Media
Huge Discounts on Spring Wardrobes Are Coming
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- In the Media
In Buying Forever 21, Mall Owners Buy Themselves Some Time
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- In the Media
Inflation Puts Pressure on America's Fast-Expanding Dollar Stores
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- In the Media
Is It Time to Ditch the Sweatpants? Consumers Eyeing Dressier Fashion Styles Again
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- In the Media
It's 2022. What Does Life Look Like?
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- In the Media
It's Not Just Shipping: A Wide Range of Supply Issues Are Plaguing Startups This Holiday Season
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- In the Media
J. Crew Declared Bankruptcy. Three Other Famous Stores May Follow It
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- In the Media
J. Crew Files for Bankruptcy, the First National Retail Casualty of the Coronavirus Pandemic
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- In the Media
JCPenney Could Be Doomed, Even as Malls Race to Save It
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- In the Media
Join the Club, Save Some Money
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- In the Media
Lord & Taylor Returns to New York - Sort of!
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- In the Media
Macy's Is Furloughing Most of Its 125,000 Employees Amid Prolonged Coronavirus Shutdown
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- In the Media
Macy's May Need a Miracle on 34th Street
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- In the Media
Madewell IPO May Be in Limbo as Talks with Lenders Break Down
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- In the Media
Major Retailers Face Bankruptcy and Uncertain Futures Due to COVID-19 Financial Crisis
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- In the Media
Malls Are Dying. The Thriving Ones Are Spending Millions to Reinvent Themselves.
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- In the Media
Malls Are Reopening, with Masks, Social Distancing and Hand Sanitizer-Spritzing Doormen
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- In the Media
Malls at Risk of Losing Their Anchor Stores as Big Chains like JCPenney and Neiman Marcus File for Bankruptcy and Nordstrom Plans to Shut 16 Stores
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- In the Media
Mike Gould and Mark Cohen Discuss the Need for Strong Retail Leadership Today
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- In the Media
Neiman Marcus Files for Bankruptcy
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- In the Media
Neiman Marcus Says It Has a Plan
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- In the Media
Netflix: The Store!
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- In the Media
New CDC Mask Guidance Throws Stores' Policies into Flux
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- In the Media
New York City's Shops Cautiously Reopen after Months on Lockdown
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- In the Media
No PPP Funding? 5 Ways for Small Businesses to Survive
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- In the Media
No New Bankruptcy Filings, but Darkness Intensifies for Department Stores
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- In the Media
Numbers, Psychology and Dillard's Bull Run
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- In the Media
Old Clothes, New Customers: Nordstrom Becomes Latest Big Retailer to Sell Secondhand Items
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- In the Media
One Family Built Forever 21, and Fueled Its Collapse
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- In the Media
'People Are Grumpy' Amid Pandemic, 2020 Election Fallout, Inflation, Vaccines Debate: Columbia Business School Professor
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- In the Media
Phone Data Show Consumers Avoiding Stores, Restaurants as COVID Surges
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- In the Media
Plywood Runs Low as Retailers Board up Storefronts Ahead of Election Day
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- In the Media
Report: COVID-19 delays Amazon Prime Day until September
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- In the Media
Retail Sales Plunge 'Just the Beginning'
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- In the Media
Retail Stores Create the New Normal as Businesses Begin to Open Up
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- In the Media
Retailers Surrender to Unprecedented Costs on Online Returns
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- In the Media
Retailers, Desperate for Seasonal Workers, Are Offering 'Unheard of' Perks like Signing Bonuses
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- In the Media
Rude Shoppers Are Fueling America's Crippling Labor Shortage
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- In the Media
Saving Emerging Fashion Brands
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- In the Media
Shoppers. Shoppers. Shoppers. Wall Street Is Watching You
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- In the Media
Shrinking the Gap: How the Clothing Brand Lost Its Way
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- In the Media
Shopping Under the Influence
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- In the Media
Silicon Valley Takes on Amazon's Cashierless 'Go' Stores
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- In the Media
Small Business Owners Are Still Concerned about the Economy
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- In the Media
Social Media and E-Commerce Hurting Paper Greeting Card Sales, Critics Say
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- In the Media
Something's Afoot on Madison Avenue
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- In the Media
Survival of the Fittest
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- In the Media
Target's New Hourly Wage Will Soon Be as Much as $24
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- In the Media
Technology Is Integral to the New Normal in Retail
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- In the Media
Thanksgiving Won't Launch Black Friday Shopping at Some of the Biggest Retailers
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- In the Media
The Changing Face of Malls: The Rise, Fall and Future.
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- In the Media
The Companies That Feed America Brace for Labor Shortages and Worry about Restocking Stores as Coronavirus Pandemic Intensifies
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- In the Media
The Death of the Department Store and the American Middle Class
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- In the Media
The Death of the Department Store: 'Very Few Are Likely to Survive'
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- In the Media
The Department Store of the 21st Century Isn't Macy's
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- In the Media
The Pre-Order Model: Why It's Working
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- In the Media
The Retail Apocalypse Is in Full View This Holiday Season: Former Sears Canada CEO
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- In the Media
The Return of One-to-One Commerce
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- In the Media
There Is Plenty of Food in the Country'
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- In the Media
This Black Friday, Shoppers Are Back in Malls
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- In the Media
This Is How a Piece of Clothing Goes Viral
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- In the Media
Thousands of Retailers May Open Their Doors, but Won't Survive Pandemic, Says Former Sears Canada CEO
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- In the Media
Tight Election Race Could Dampen Consumer Spending during a Fraught Holiday Season
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- In the Media
Trump says He Will Block Coronavirus Aid for U.S. Postal Service if It Doesn't Hike Prices Immediately
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- In the Media
U.S. Retail Rose 7.5% in June as Stores Reopened
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- In the Media
UPS Says It's Processing a Record Number of Returns as 1 in 4 Americans Plan to Ship Stuff Back to Sellers after the Holidays
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- In the Media
US Retailers Teeter on the Brink as 630,000 Outlets Close
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- In the Media
Voters Should Request Ballots 2 Weeks Early, but Mail Isn't Intentionally Slow
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- In the Media
Walmart Expands Last-Mile Delivery Service to Outside Businesses, Opening New Battlefront with Amazon
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- In the Media
What Happened to Nordstrom Rack?
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- In the Media
What the Heck Happened to the Gap?
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- In the Media
What Will COVID-19 Do to Shopping Malls?
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- In the Media
'What'd You Miss?'
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- In the Media