One of the people who most influenced me was Ben Shapiro, a marketing professor at the business school. He used to rant and rave and pound his fist: 'It's all about the customers!' And he was right. He was also right that, at that time, retailing was devoid of really talented people; he urged me to go in that direction.

Typically you see the home office think up some great program but doesn't think through implementation at the store level.

If a customer walks out without shoes, you really want to find out why. 'It didn't fit' is not good enough.

The role of private equity as fiduciaries is certainly to make money.

The way to really create justice for workers in America is to create job growth.

Forget 'branding' and 'positioning.' Once you understand customer behavior, everything else falls into place.

At the Harvard Business School, I really felt I had gained the ability to resolve difficult issues. But I also felt that I wasn't in the mainstream with my fellow students. During job-hunting season, for example, everybody shaved their beards for interviews. I thought, 'This is crazy.' So I grew a beard.