RS: A conversation with author Martin Sneider

Dubbed the American "House of Gucci", Shelf Life is the debut novel from former retail king Martin Sneider — whose 2,000 stores once ruled malls across America. At its heart, Shelf Life is a novel about navigating family relationships. Central to the story is the family matriarch, Maddy, inspired by Martin’s wife Jill, a literature scholar who passed away rather suddenly in 2021. The protagonist of the novel wonders whether — like retail — his relationship with his father has a shelf life. Lakeshore Public Media host Dee Dotson speaks with the author, a fourth-generation retailer who started his retail career as as a shoe salesman and rose to president, co-CEO, and chief merchant of one of the nation’s largest fashion shoe and apparel specialty chains about his new book.