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People are always going to go shopping. A lot of our effort is just: 'How do we make the retail experience a great one?'

I quite frankly enjoy the touch and feel of a store, so I am a big bookshop person. Or, I go to an electronics store; Best Buy and Croma are places I could spend a lot of time in.

This is my hobby: growing stores, adding stores. It's fun.

I'm not from a retail background, but I am a shopper.

The thing is, I don't want to be sold to when I walk into a store. I want to be welcomed.

I get a special joy in knowing people feel comfortable if they see me in Wal-Mart or in a no-frills section trying to get something on a discount.

The ventures that keep things light and fun, easy to understand, that have a compelling story, a sexy retail product, will have an easier time getting people to rally around them and contribute. A start-up doing something that's difficult to communicate or doesn't offer any kind of retail product will have a tougher go at it.

I did work at a mall in college - I think retail/customer service is just one of the most hideous jobs in the world. So I always try to be extra nice when I go into a store. But malls are part of our culture, if you watched any teen comedy in the '80s. it's clear that malls are where we live!

I was raised to want to work for a living. The idea of just sitting around or going shopping every day appalls me.

No one in my family had a retail or marketing background. They were professionals. They didn't understand just what I was doing by going into retailing. After I started, though, it got into my blood. I knew this was what I wanted.