Built by someone who has sat in the buyer's chair.

Michael learned retail in the buyer's chair at City Sports, one of the most respected independent sporting goods retailers in the country. Those were the years that produced the touchscreen gloves, the hot markets, and the hard lessons that fill his book. A stint at Nathan Sports put him on the other side of the table: developing product alongside Nike and selling into Dick's Sporting Goods, The Sports Authority, Big 5, Scheels, and Academy Sports. And for the past decade he has worked independently, consulting for brands and retailers from boutique Shopify labels to national chains, selling NCAA and NBA licensed programs into Walmart and Target along with sleepwear and lounge, and most recently implementing an AI-powered allocation system for a 400-store specialty retailer doing close to $300 million.

The RetailLAB, a product of Sustainable Souls, Inc., is that career turned into a platform. After identifying $153,000 in lost sales on a single wool jacket, rebuilding a $1 million category from a markdown mistake, and uncovering $2.3 million in missed revenue on a single size across an assortment, Michael built the tool he wished he'd had all along: daily inventory tracking, lost revenue calculated automatically, and the buying recommendations that actually move the needle. See the full history on the track record page.