Retail executives are spending this week putting the final touches on their 2025 to-do lists and sharpening their plans before 2026. But, before everyone set up their out-of-office responders, Modern Retail polled a group of executives — ranging from leaders at retail giants like Target and Kroger to founders at promising upstarts like Winx Health and Cann — about what’s on their wish lists for 2026. We asked them one simple question: If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the retail industry in 2026, what would it be? The answers ranged from a hope that different teams and organizations could do a better job of working together in the new year to wishes for specific industries like resale and women’s health. You can find all of the answers below, some of which have been slightly edited for clarity and length. Continue reading this article on modernretail.co. Sign up for Modern Retail newsletters to get the latest on the shifting dynamics between retail’s old and new guards.
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