The Modern Retail Podcast
413 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 35 ratingsThe Modern Retail Podcast is a podcast about the retail space, from legacy companies to the buzzy world of DTC startups. Every Thursday, Cale Weissman, editor of Modern Retail, interviews executives about their growth and marketing strategies. And every Saturday Gabi Barkho, senior reporter, sits down with the Modern Retail staff to chat about the latest headlines in the retail world.
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Episodes
Inflation, changing demand & major C-suite shuffles: The Modern Retail Podcast looks back at a volatile 2022
December 29, 2022 05:00 - 38 minutesThis year, brands and retailers faced a myriad of changes. Inflation went up, demand for some products went down and marketing became an increasingly difficult nut to crack. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, our reporters sat down and talked about the biggest themes they wrote about. They ran the gamut -- from consumer demand shifts to price fluctuations to the difficulties many c-suites faced. Senior reporter Melissa Daniels spoke about shifts in consumer sentiment that led to product ...
'We're not just a brand from the '80s': Esprit CEO William Pak on relaunching the nostalgic apparel brand
December 22, 2022 05:00 - 32 minutesEsprit was once a luxury California apparel brand, but it has had a rough couple of decades. In its heyday in the '80s and '90s, it was known for its high-end clothing like sweatshirts. But most of its U.S. business dried up in the 2000s, and the company's German and Hong Kong business began to lose their luster with shoppers. As part of a major restructuring beginning in 2021, William Pak became CEO. Earlier this year, the company posted its first profit since 2017. And now Esprit has big pl...
'We didn't expect the consumer response to be as great': GoodwillFinds CEO Matthew Kaness on bringing the thrifting experience online
December 15, 2022 05:00 - 42 minutesGoodwillFinds is trying to bring the century-old Goodwill network to the era of ThredUp. The new e-commerce platform has only been live since October, but has already seen pretty steady growth. When it first hit the market, GoodwillFinds offered 100,000 items for sale from four different Goodwill locations around the country. Now, that number is approaching 200,000 items. CEO Matthew Kaness said the organization plans to have a catalog of over 1 million products for sale by the end of the yea...
'We had gotten old': Lee Jeans exec Chris Waldeck on energizing the century-old denim brand
December 08, 2022 05:00 - 39 minutesLee Jeans is over a century old, but it's trying to remain hip with younger generations. One way it does this is with collaborations. For example, the apparel brand recently worked with the menswear company Brooklyn Circus on a new joint collection. The products are an update on some of Lee's oldest designs -- an attempt to bridge a heritage brand with something newer. According to Chris Waldeck, evp and co-chief operating officer at Lee's parent company Kontoor Brands, the philosophy behind ...
'These kinds of tech solutions really have to be for the less affluent': Voyage Foods CEO on making food alternatives accessible
December 01, 2022 05:00 - 37 minutesVoyage Foods envisions a world where the most popular food products aren't reliant on their source ingredients. And it believes business-to-business is the best way to reach its lofty goals. The company, which is only a couple of years old, currently makes peanut-free peanut butter spread, cocoa-free chocolate and coffee-free coffee. The idea is that these are some of the most popular foods in the world, but they all carry their own allergen, environmental and political baggage. CEO Adam Maxw...
'There's only so many really illustrious people out there who put out products': Ntwrk's Aaron Levant on expanding the livestream platform beyond its celebrity roots
November 17, 2022 05:00 - 33 minutesLivestream shopping has yet to hit true mainstream levels in the U.S. but Ntwrk thinks it can help. The platform has been around since 2018, and says it has doubled in size every year since launch. Ntwrk's approach to livestream commerce consists of a combination of brand, retailer and celebrity partnerships, along with limited-edition drops. As Aaron Levant, Ntwrk's CEO, described it, the idea at inception was to create a "live, engaging, entertaining platform where some of the biggest brand...
'Far less transactional': PetSmart's Chief Customer Officer on establishing a modern brand voice
November 10, 2022 05:00 - 36 minutesPetSmart is trying to maintain its dominance as a leading pet retailer. The privately-held company, which has been around since 1986, reportedly brought in $2.5 billion in revenue in the second quarter of this year. But the retailer is also trying to stay relevant with its shoppers and find new ways to engage them. Stacia Andersen, PetSmart's chief customer officer, joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about her role and the evolving pet space. PetSmart is not a startup by any...
'We're a community-focused company': Bala co-founder Brian Lockard on growing a footwear brand for medical professionals
November 03, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutesBala Footwear is the latest apparel brand going after working professionals. The company makes shoes aimed specifically at medical professionals. Co-founder Brian Lockard worked at Nike for nearly five years. And the ethos of that brand informed Bala's thesis. "At Nike, one of the phrases that was so important that we always used was: Always listen to the voice of the athlete," said Lockard on the Modern Retail Podcast. "And we've decided we would build a company where we always listen to the...
'People want to go to the physical stores': Levi's Rui Carlos Da Silva Araujo on the brand's Latin America DTC strategy
October 27, 2022 04:00 - 28 minutesLevi's Latin American business is growing -- but it's very different from its Northern counterparts. The apparel brand's svp and managing director of Latin America, Rui Carlos Da Silva Araujo, spoke on the Modern Retail Podcast about how the company approaches this part of the business -- and its overall approach to DTC. This episode was recorded live at the Modern Retail DTC Summit held in Miami. Levi's Latin American business grew by about 70% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022, and A...
Outlines co-founders on trying to make shower liners work as a subscription
October 20, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutesOutlines is trying to be the Quip toothbrushes for bathroom and home cleaning products. The company launched earlier this year with a shower liner subscription service. The idea is that customers can buy the shower liner along with other accessories. Then, every few months they can pack up their used musty one, send it to Outlines who will recycle the material and then send another brand new clean liner. But Outlines isn't stopping at shower liners -- the startup is launching both a replenish...
'Most products out there don't need to be subscription': Cloud Paper's Ryan Fritsch on the state of subscription businesses
October 13, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutesCloud Paper is trying to get more people -- and businesses -- to try its products. The company makes bamboo-based tree-free toilet paper. When it first launched in 2019, co-founder Ryan Fritsch said the goal was to grow via business-to-business partnerships by selling to businesses like corporate offices and hotels. Its first major account was a Seattle WeWork. But then the pandemic hit, and office buildings shut down. As a result, Cloud Paper had to pivot its business to be consumer-facing. ...
Better & Better co-founder Vladimir Vukicevic on blurring the lines between supplements and oral care
October 06, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutesBetter & Better is taking an unconventional approach to oral care. The startup makes a toothpaste infused with vitamins -- a way to kill two daily-needs birds with one stone. But educating shoppers about how the product works is easier said than done. On the Modern Retail Podcast this week co-founder and CEO Vladimir Vukicevic spoke about how he's been positioning the company. "I [wanted] to build something that's really personal and near and dear to my heart," he said. "Better & Better stems...
'We make a premium product': Brooklyn Delhi's Chitra Agrawal on the changing grocery landscape for startups
September 29, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutesGrocery and CPG are certainly hot areas for startups, but it hasn't always been that way. Brooklyn Delhi, a company that makes Indian-inspired sauces and condiments, has been in the business since 2014. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, founder Chitra Agrawal talked about growing the business -- and the current DTC landscape. Brooklyn Delhi began as a predominately local company. Agrawal got laid off from her marketing job but had already been building a following as a food blogger. It ...
'The priorities were a little baffling': Evite CEO David Yeom on transforming the platform's business model
September 22, 2022 04:00 - 32 minutesEvite has big plans to be more than just a free digital invitation service. The online platform has been around since 1998, providing essentially the same service: online invitations. But the business has had many ups and down. Two years ago, David Yeom and George Ruan purchased the business -- Yeom hails from e-commerce businesses like the Honest Company and eBay; Ruan co-founded Honey. Yeom joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the company's transformation. "Evite, from...
'The goal is to go mass': Caraa co-founder Aaron Luo on pivoting to charcuterie with Mercado Famous
September 15, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutesNearly five years ago, Aaron Luo co-founded the DTC luxury bag company Caraa. Now, his latest venture zeroes in on Spanish meats. Luo and fellow Caraa co-founder Carmen Chen Wu launched charcuterie brand Mercado Famous this past summer. Both Luo and Chen grew up in Spain, and have fond memories of tapas hours with friend and family. "The mission behind Mercado was to bring not only the best we can find in Spain when it comes to charcuterie, but change the narrative around charcuterie a little...
'The sponsorship model is broken': On co-founder Caspar Coppetti on building a premium athletic brand that rivals the giants
September 08, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutesFor the Swiss athletic apparel company On -- known by many as On Running -- the focus has always been on being both premium and exclusive. According to co-founder Caspar Coppetti, the concept when it first launched in 2010 was "we want to be the most expensive product on the market." On's shoes retail for between $130 and $200 a pair. It took a few years, but the strategy worked out. In its most recent earnings report, On's quarterly revenue hit around $307 million and direct-to-consumer sale...
'Our core audience is very different than Wayfair's': Fernish co-founder Michael Barlow on changing home goods trends
September 01, 2022 04:00 - 38 minutesHome goods sales may be cooling, but Fernish is still seeing growth from furniture rental. On the Modern Retail Podcast this week, Fernish co-founder and CEO Michael Barlow joined to speak about the state of the industry and how he's been growing his company. Fernish first hit the market in 2018 as a furniture rental service. The idea was that many young professionals often moved to cities and were expected to move into new apartments and completely furnish them. For a monthly fee, they get a...
'We were needing a transformation': Express CMO Sara Tervo on evolving the mall brand
August 25, 2022 04:00 - 31 minutesExpress was a ubiquitous mall retailer, but it's now trying to become much more than that. CMO Sara Tervo gave some insight into this brand. This week, on the Modern Retail Podcast, Tervo spoke about the Express's evolution. The apparel retailer first began in 1980, and was known as a mall mainstay. Now, Tervo has spent the last three years trying to refresh the retailer's image. "When I joined the brand, we were needing a transformation," she said. Slowly but surely, that change has started ...
'Working hard to grow sustainably': Counter Culture's Brett Smith on the changing coffee landscape
August 18, 2022 04:00 - 41 minutesThe coffee business changed overnight when the pandemic first hit, and Counter Culture Coffee has been rolling with the punches. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, Counter Culture founder and president Brett Smith spoke about where the industry is going and how his company has evolved over more than two decades. Counter Culture, which first launched in 1994, was one of the first roasters to focus on direct trade, meaning it took great pride in working directly with coffee growers and sup...
'The category will continue to grow': EyeBuyDirect CEO Sunny Jiang on staying competitive with Warby Parker
August 11, 2022 04:00 - 33 minutesThe eyeglasses industry is very competitive, but EyeBuyDirect is focused on cornering the market via affordability. The EssilorLuxotica-owned company has been around since 2005 and its primary focus has been on value: a pair of frames from EyeBuyDirect can be as cheap as $6. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, CEO Sunny Jiang spoke about the company's trajectory and how she's been steering the ship. Jiang has been at EyeBuyDirect for 15 years -- she first took a job there when she was fre...
'The appropriate capital for them is not venture': Forerunner's Jason Bornstein on the tumultuous landscape for DTC startups
August 04, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutesThe next billion-dollar brand probably won't be a DTC startup. That's according to Jason Bornstein, principal at Forerunner Ventures. He's out there trying to look for the next big business to invest in, and he's not so sure online-only brands are the best way to go. Instead, he's focused on bigger innovations. Bornstein joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about his background, investing thesis and the areas on which he's focusing right now. "What we're really looking for her...
'It's not just something that we put on our website': Prose's vp of social impact Helen Nwosu on keeping a scaling company ethical
July 28, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutesProse is a hair care company in growth mode, but it's also laser-focused on remaining a responsible brand. One of the people behind this push is Helen Nwosu, the company's vp of social impact. On this week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, Nwosu spoke about how she juggles the needs of a scaling brand while maintaining Prose's core values -- which include being transparent about its sustainability efforts, providing a safe and equitable workplace and making its products accessible to mo...
Maev founder Katie Spies on going from dog walker to pet food CEO
July 21, 2022 04:00 - 35 minutesMaev is a startup that believes dogs should be eating as well as humans. The company first hit the market in 2020 and has been steadily growing ever since. For its first year in business, it was faced with the problem of selling out of products. This led it to bulk up its manufacturing and raise a $9 million round of funding. Now, Maev founder and CEO Katie Spies says the company sees sales growth of about 15% month-over-month. She joined the Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the company'...
'We built our iPhone before we built our Apple': Whisker CEO Jacob Zuppke on growing the brand beyond its Litter Robot roots
July 14, 2022 04:00 - 39 minutesJacob Zuppke’s tagline for his company is “cats keep pooping.” It's a blunt way to help people understand what his company does: Zuppke is the CEO of Whisker, the company behind the Litter Robot, an electronic-self cleaning litter box that retails for as much as $649. And, the tagline has born out; and the parent company is trying to expand beyond just litter boxes, with an automatic pet feeder and its own cat litter. The pandemic didn't slow Whisker's sales, and that's thanks to the Covid pe...
Introducing The Return
July 12, 2022 20:30 - 2 minutesDigiday Media is proud to present The Return, a podcast about what the return to the office can look like as corporate America adapts to the new, not quite post-pandemic normal. The Return follows the staff at one Atlanta-based advertising agency through Covid outbreaks, as well as the highs and lows of transitioning to hybrid work after two years of pandemic lockdown and working remotely. While the future of work is still under construction, employees across the country are forging their own...
'Alt milk fatigue has become a thing': Táche founder Roxana Saidi on growing a pistachio milk business in the age of Oatly
July 07, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutesPistachio milk startup Táche has big plans to take on Oatly and its ilk. Founder and CEO Roxana Saidi joined the Modern Retail Podcast and explained how. Táche has been on the market for a little less than two years, but it has already begun making a real dent. The company has sold over 1 million units and has expanded its retail and coffee shop footprint nationally. According to Saidi, things are just getting started. The first hurdle, according to Saidi, was making sure she could build a vi...
King David Taco's Liz Solomon Dwyer on growing a cult New York food brand
June 30, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutesKing David Tacos began as a Brooklyn-based taco cart and has expanded to dozens of locations, and has big expansion ambitions beyond New York City. According to founder and CEO Liz Solomon Dwyer, this is thanks to its persistent branding and ability to grow a rapt customer base. She joined this week's Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the company's growth and ambitions. King David began in 2016 after Solomon Dwyer quit her job in advertising and made the bold move to go into the food busi...
'People want to talk about sex': Maude founder Éva Goicochea on growing a modern sexual wellness brand
June 23, 2022 04:00 - 39 minutesMaude is trying to redefine the sexual wellness space. The brand -- which sells condoms, lubricants and vibrators, in addition to other products -- has been growing its presence and business over the years. It first began as a direct-to-consumer brand, but is now sold in stores like Sephora. According to founder and CEO Éva Goicochea, the company is only getting started. Maude began as a predominately DTC business in 2018. But Goicochea said she focused early on getting the word out -- and ma...
'To traditionalists, we are inauthentic': Inkbox CEO Tyler Handley on changing the perception of temporary tattoos
June 16, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutesTemporary tattoos are no longer relegated to children's birthday parties -- they're becoming a bigger and more widely accepted part of the body part industry. Much of that is thanks to Inkbox, a Canada-based company that was acquired by Bic last January for $65 million. Inkbox's co-founder and CEO Tyler Handley joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the brand's growth and sales -- as well as the overall temporary tattoo industry. Inbox uses an active ingredient its founder...
'For all intents and purposes we are a brand': Italic founder Jeremy Cai on the company's new path forward
June 09, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutesItalic is trying to become a luxury brand in its own right. The company has been around since 2018 and has gone through many iterations. At the same time, the underlying model has remained consistent: Italic forges partnerships with the manufacturers of well-known brands like Staub and Samsonite and sells unbranded products directly from the facilities at a fraction of the price. While the company has seen growth over the last few years, it's changed some of its business mechanics. Most recen...
'It is a very unique market': July co-founder Athan Didaskalou on expanding an Australian luggage brand to the U.S.
June 02, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutesThe last few years have been a rollercoaster for travel companies. But Australian luggage brand July says business is now beginning to boom. "Things have changed, lockdowns have come to an end now -- 2021 was a progressive lift on that. And this year, in 2022, things are flying again," said co-founder and chief strategy officer Athan Didaskalou. Didaskalou joined this week's Modern Retail Podcast and talked about the brand's growth and expansion plans. July was first devised in 2018 with the ...
'We're getting an absurd amount of people': Neighborhood Goods CEO Matt Alexander on the return of physical retail
May 26, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutesThings got scary for Neighborhood Goods in 2020. "We went through layoffs and furloughs -- all sorts of challenging things," said co-founder and CEO Matt Alexander. "And we had just come into the year on a real tear, and it was just really gut-wrenching to suddenly be in that moment." But business has returned, and his updated department store model -- which has retail space in city centers like Manhattan, Austin and Plano and hosts a variety of brands in exchange for a revenue share -- is do...
‘They're ready for liquidity’: OpenStore’s Michael Rubenstein on building a platform to give Shopify founders an exit
May 19, 2022 04:00 - 28 minutesThe e-commerce portfolio model has been getting a lot of press of late. And OpenStore thinks it may have cracked the code for finding and acquiring DTC brands. OpenStore launched in 2021, and the idea was the use proprietary technology to suss out which online brands have the most upside. It's raised over $130 million both in venture capital and debt. E-commerce brands can go to OpenStore's website and share their Shopify sales data with the portfolio company. "We've built an engine, powered ...
'Founders are tired': OpenStore's Michael Rubenstein on how he's building out a Shopify aggregator
May 19, 2022 04:00 - 28 minutesThe e-commerce portfolio model has been getting a lot of press of late. And OpenStore thinks it may have cracked the code for finding and acquiring DTC brands. OpenStore launched in 2021, and the idea was the use proprietary technology to suss out which online brands have the most upside. It's raised over $130 million both in venture capital and debt. E-commerce brands can go to OpenStore's website and share their Shopify sales data with the portfolio company. "We've built an engine, powered ...
An awesome product is table stakes': Weezie co-founder Lindsey Johnson on building a luxury bath brand
May 12, 2022 04:00 - 35 minutesThe key to DTC towel brand Weezie's success is staying in its lane -- or, bathroom. That's according to co-founder Lindsey Johnson who joined this week's Modern Retail Podcast. The company, which makes luxury bath towels along with other bathroom-related products like bathrobes and bathmats, has seen year-over-year growth and said late last year that it was on track to hit eight figures in revenue in 2021. "The bath towel is the hero product of Weezie, and we are going to stay in that world,"...
'We're the coach versus the quarterback': General Mills' DTC lead Carter Jensen on how the CPG giant goes about e-commerce
May 05, 2022 04:00 - 28 minutesGeneral Mills is known for being the company behind household name brands Wheaties -- but it's also trying to build out a robust DTC strategy. At the Modern Retail DTC Summit, held last week in New Orleans, General Mills' global e-commerce lead of DTC Carter Jensen took to the stage to talk about how he approaches his role. That conversation was recorded for this week's Modern Retail Podcast. Jensen isn't the usual CPG conglomerate leader -- he only joined the company about two years ago. "I ...
'I was laughed out of the room': How Bokksu founder Danny Taing bootstrapped his business to a $100M valuation
April 28, 2022 04:00 - 33 minutesBokksu, which connects U.S. customers with Japanese snacks, is still bullish on subscription boxes, according to its founder and CEO Danny Taing. The company, which first launched in 2016, began by offering a subscription box that featured Japanese snacks that were never before available in the U.S. Growth for the first few years was on the slower side, as the company remained mostly bootstrapped. Two years after launching, the company really started to hit its stride. And is now expanding be...
'We don't want to be everything to everyone': W&P president Kate Lubenesky on evolving a modern kitchen brand
April 21, 2022 04:00 - 38 minutesFor the kitchen brand W&P, it's been a good time for the home products space. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, W&P president Kate Lubenesky spoke about how the company has evolved and grown. "We had great growth in 2020 and 2021," she said. W&P first launched 10 years ago with its first product: a mason jar-inspired cocktail shaker. Now, the company has expanded a great deal, with hundreds of different products including cups, cutting boards, cocktail kits and ziplock bag alternatives....
'Consumers have evolved': TalkShopLive's Bryan Moore on North America's growing appetite for livestream commerce
April 14, 2022 04:00 - 38 minutesIt's been a big year for TalkShopLive -- and for livestream commerce in general. The livestream commerce platform has been around since 2018. Until 2021, it was completely bootstrapped -- but it took a $3 million seed round a year ago this past February. Since then, TalkShopLive has been ramping up partnerships with major publishers and retailers, including Walmart and Condé Nast. Co-founder and CEO Bryan Moore joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the platform's growing ...
'All the packaging would look the same': Couplet Coffee's Gefen Skolnick on trying to reinvent a category
April 07, 2022 04:00 - 35 minutesCouplet Coffee, which sells both coffee beans and coffee-related products online, is only a few months old and is trying to enter the market with a bang. Currently, it's available online as well as at select partners like Lotto.com's Players Cafe. Founder and CEO Gefen Skolnick joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the launch. "Couplet was my side project in college," Skolnick said. "I've just been obsessed with coffee for over ten years now." For the last year, however, ...
'Bringing every one of our stores to profitability': Gorillas' Adam Wacenske on the burgeoning quick commerce space
March 31, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutesLightning-fast delivery services are taking cities like New York by storm. And Gorillas is trying to be the leader of the pack. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, Adam Wacenske, Gorillas' U.S. head of operations, spoke about the online grocery service's growth plans and strategy. Gorillas is a grocery delivery app that began in Europe, but is currently only available in New York. Its main value proposition is that it can give customers their items in the blink of an eye -- usually in les...
UrbanStems CEO Seth Goldman on making national flower delivery feasible
March 24, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutesIt may seem simple to order a bouquet of flowers and have it delivered to your home, but a lot of work goes into such a task. On this week's Modern Retail Podcast, Seth Goldman, the CEO of online flower and plant delivery service UrbanStems, discussed the ins and outs of the e-florist business. Over the last two years, UrbanStems saw year-over-year growth in both 2020 and 2021 -- even after the company shut down its local delivery services in March of 2020, which resulted in a 60% decline in ...
Sabai's Phantila Phataraprasit on building a sustainable furniture brand from the ground up
March 17, 2022 04:00 - 33 minutesFor direct-to-consumer furniture brand Sabai, sustainability reigns. The brand, which launched in the summer of 2019, and saw a growth spike in both 2020 and 2021 -- much of which was spurred by the pandemic-induced home boom. According to co-founder and CEO Phantila Phataraprasit, much of its growth was thanks to increased interest in sustainability. Sabai's products -- which range from sofas to ottomans -- are all produced with sustainability in mind. [Sustainability] can be in so many diff...
Umamicart's Andrea Xu on building an online Asian grocery startup
March 10, 2022 05:00 - 32 minutesUmamicart is trying to bring authentic Asian grocery items to more U.S. consumers. The app launched in early 2021 and, according to co-founder and CEO Andrea Xu, has been seeing double-digit growth month-over-month. It offers Asian products from sauces to meats to vegetables, growing from 400 SKUs at launch to now over 1,000. Xu joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the trials and tribulations of growing a digital grocery startup. According to Xu, Umamicart began because ...
‘It’s all about walking the walk’: Reformation’s Hali Borenstein on the clothing brand’s next moves
March 03, 2022 05:00 - 39 minutesIt’s been a turbulent few years for Reformation, but the women’s clothing and accessory brand is forging ahead. According to CEO Hali Borenstein, the focus now is on building trust both with customers and employees. “It is all about walking the walk,” she said on the Modern Retail Podcast. Borenstein became Reformation’s chief executive in 2020 when its founder and then-CEO Yael Aflalo stepped down after a former employee’s social media post went viral that alleged unfair treatment of non-whi...
One Stripe Chai founder Farah Jesani on pivoting from cafés to DTC
February 24, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutesIn 2019, startup chai brand One Stripe Chai saw coffeeshops as the ticket to its success. Then the pandemic came and everything changed. After a bumpy few months, the brand focused predominately on its direct-to-consumer website and finding online customers. And while its foodservice business has resumed, founder and “chief chai officer” Farah Jesani says she’s still focused primarily on growing the DTC sales. Jesani joined the Modern Retail Podcast and described the quick change. Right befor...
‘Bringing the market to its full potential’: Dia&Co’s Nadia Boujarwah on growing the $21B plus-size market
February 17, 2022 05:00 - 37 minutesOnline apparel marketplace Dia&Co is trying to tap into the $21 billion inclusive sizing market. Within the last few years, more brands have begun introducing a wider range of sizes. But according to co-founder and CEO Nadia Boujarwah, most businesses are only scratching the surface. Boujarwah joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about Dia&Co, as well as the current state of plus-size apparel. Dia&Co has been around for six years, and has witnessed big shifts in brands’ plus-s...
‘It starts with the product’: Firebelly Tea’s David Segal on building a modern tea empire
February 10, 2022 05:00 - 36 minutesDTC startup Firebelly Tea is hoping to help the hot steeped beverage reach the celebrity status of coffee. That’s according to co-founder and CEO David Segal, who joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week. Segal isn’t new to the tea world -- he founded one of the biggest tea retailers in North America, DavidsTea. After selling his shares in the company in 2016, he is now embarking on a new tea journey. Tea, said Segal, “is the second biggest drink in the world, next to water,” even though, h...
‘Not a flash in the pan’: Win Brands Group’s Kyle Widrick on growing a DTC roll-up company
February 03, 2022 05:00 - 30 minutesWin Brands Group has been around since 2017, but this is the year the DTC roll-up strategy is really beginning to gain steam. The company owns a slew of online businesses, including the candle company Homesick and the weighted blanket brand Gravity. According to founder Kyle Widrick, things have been building nicely since inception, but thanks to big pandemic-related changes Win is now set up for more growth. “We’ve built up our holding company and our structure and our process in such a way ...
‘Unapologetically loud and fun’: Ghia’s Mélanie Masarin on the sober curious movement
January 27, 2022 05:00 - 34 minutesThe non-alcoholic drink, which launched in 2020, tastes similar to a European apéritif. And, according to founder and CEO Mélanie Masarin, there’s growing demand. She joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about Ghia’s journey thus far. One of Ghia’s big markers is its branding. Ghia is available in the U.S. in both cans and bottles, and has a very retro eye-catching look. This was all by design. “I really wanted Ghia to not be another pastel-colored millennial brand,” Masarin s...