Tractor Supply CMO Kimberley Gardiner on the Power of "Life Out Here." PLUS The K-shaped Economy and Grocery's Shaky Middle

About this episode

Recorded live on the CommerceNext Growth Show main stage in NYC, Steve Dennis sits down with Kimberley "KG" Gardiner, Chief Marketing Officer of Tractor Supply Company, who traces her path from senior marketing roles at Toyota, Lexus, and Volkswagen to leading one of America's most distinctive life>

Up front, Steve and Michael open on the Strait of Hormuz, where ceasefire whiplash has eased fuel prices but left them well above pre-incursion levels. Fresh Moody's data on the K-shaped economy lands hard: the top 20% of US households now drive 60% of consumer spending, their outlays up 6.5% year-over-year, while the bottom 80% can't keep pace with inflation. That split is finally hitting grocery — Kroger comped 1%, Albertsons 0.7%, Publix flat — while Walmart, Costco, Amazon, T&T, Whole Foods, and Sprouts keep surging. The unremarkable middle is collapsing in grocery just as it did in department stores and category killers.

After the interview, Steve recaps CommerceNext, including a sharp Mickey Drexler fireside with Simeon Siegel on taste, curation, and craftsmanship, before unpacking Walmart's $1.4B Vibe.co acquisition — a connected-TV play that rhymes with the earlier Vizio deal. On the prediction tracker: Starbucks is tapping the brakes on its all-third-place strategy, teasing up to 5,000 smaller, drive-through-led US locations. On the radar: an early start to back-to-school promos and a moved-up Prime Day, both hinting at margin pressure ahead. Michael closes on disappointing FIFA World Cup numbers across host cities, and crowns Taylor Swift the clear winner in the economic-contribution battle.

Steve's Starbucks Prediction 

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books:Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption andRemarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption.Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2026 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.