The Modern Retail Podcast

On this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses major retail strategy shifts. First, Target reported a less-than-stellar third-quarter earnings. Next, REI announced plans to crack down on serial returners. Last up, the team dives into reports that Starbucks is considering selling its Chinese business.

The espresso martini has been having a moment for the last few years. According to NIQ CGA’s cocktail tracker, in 2023, orders for espresso martinis doubled in velocity and dethroned the Long Island Iced Tea as the sixth most popular cocktail. Riding this wave is the coffee liqueur Mr. Black, which, since its U.S. launch in 2017, has driven one-third of the total retail sales growth in the coffee...

On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses Red Lobster's rebrand plan, which was outlined by its new CEO, Damola Adamolekun. Then, after more than a year of litigations, Tapestry said it is no longer pursuing its $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri. Finally, Amazon’s One Medical service announced it will begin offering virtual treatment plans for ailments like hair loss and skin care,...

KiwiCo has built a profitable subscription business, but it sees retail expansion as key for this year's holiday sales. "We're really excited about our retail efforts," KiwiCo founder and CEO Sandra Oh Lin said on this week's Modern Retail Podcast. Lin launched the children's education product company in 2011. KiwiCo sells themed packages -- what it calls crates -- to kids every month based on cer...

On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, an overview of the potential importing tariffs the retail industry faces, as proposed by Trump’s incoming administration. Elsewhere, retail bankruptcies continue as companies like The Vitamin Shoppe and Blink Fitness seek bailouts to avoid going out of business. Finally, Shein has brought on another legacy American retailer, The Children’s Place, to sell on it...

"Even the most vanilla celebrity will do something stupid from time to time," admitted Woodie Hillyard. But Hillyard isn't working with the most vanilla celebrity -- he's working with Jake Paul. Paul is an online star with over 20 million subscribers on YouTube alone, known for wild publicity stunts. Most recently, Paul has taken up boxing, with an upcoming scheduled match with Mike Tyson later th...

On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the staff breaks down the struggling sales of coffee giants Starbucks and Keurig. Next, Etsy posts early positive signs of holiday sales. Finally, sandwich chain Subway is facing legal action over the alleged false advertising of its sandwich, which some customers say contains much less meat in reality.

There are a lot of mixed signals about how holiday sales will perform this year, but DTC jewelry brand Awe Inspired is bullish. Awe Inspired sells jewelry like necklaces and bracelets, but they all feature pendants or charms meant to showcase empowerment, such as a Greek goddess or an astrological sign. The company's sales are up 45% this year, and it has become a celebrity favorite with people li...

On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the staff breaks down the latest M&A play, Keurig Dr Pepper’s acquisition of the 8-year-old energy drink startup Ghost. This week, Tupperware's assets were bought out by its lender following the company's bankruptcy filing. And, starting November 1 through February.

Death & Co is an internationally known cocktail bar. It first began in New York but has expanded to other cities like Los Angeles and Washington, DC. But the company has big ambitions to grow even more. That's what led to the creation of Gin & Luck, the umbrella company of the bar that launched in 2018. According to David Kaplan, who started Death & Co in 2006 and is now CEO of Gin & Luck, the ide...

On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the staff breaks down Bed Bath & Beyond's parent company Beyond Inc.'s decision to invest $40 million in The Container Store through a new partnership. Next, the team discusses ways in which shoppers plan to spend big this holiday season, even if it means going into debt. Finally, we take a look at Urban Outfitters's move to slash prices on more than 100 items...

Celebrity-led brands have become one of the biggest trends. But it's not enough to simply have a big name associated with a company -- the person actually has to be involved. That's what has helped Made By Gather be such a success. Made By Gather is the parent company of Beautiful, Drew Barrymore's homewares company. Now, Made By Gather is relaunching another brand, Bella, alongside Demi Lovato. M...

On this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses a recent letter from two high-profile politicians sent to CPG leaders like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola over their pricing practices. Then, we dive into news that the NRF isn't running its annual report on retail shrink. Lastly, the team discusses how rising cocoa prices are going to impact Halloween candy sales.

Plant-based milk has reached a point of maturation -- and Malk is helping take the products even more to the mainstream. The company launched in 2015, starting first in a farmer's market and expanding over a few years into retailers like Whole Foods and Sprouts. Now, the company's products -- which include almond, oat and cashew milk and creamers -- are sold in nearly 10,000 stores around the coun...

On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the editorial team discusses the latest Levi’s earnings, including the potential sale of the under-performing Dockers brand. Meanwhile, QVC struck a deal with the USA Pickleball league for the rights to stream matches with and other shoppable pickleball content. Finally, this week also saw a major food acquisition, with PepsiCo buying Mexican staples startup S...

Grove Collaborative thinks it has found the way to become the Chewy of sustainable home products. The company has been around since 2012 but has gone through many iterations. For years, it was focused on being a subscription service that delivered curated baskets of its products -- such as paper towels and soaps -- to people's homes. It has tested out private labels as well as wholesale partnershi...

On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the editorial team starts by discussing a new lawsuit filed by American Eagle against Amazon, in which the retailer alleges that counterfeit versions of its Aerie products are being listed on Amazon. Meanwhile, publicly traded e-commerce startups Grove Collaborative and Stitch Fix have provided updates on their latest progress in narrowing losses and becoming...

Soccer is having a moment, and that has meant online destinations like Soccer.com are seeing newfound growth. But according to Soccer.com CEO Mike Moylan, this has been a long time coming. When Lionel Messi signed with Inter Miami last year, bringing the Argentinian soccer star to the United States, it was clear that the sport was becoming a mainstream pastime for Americans. But there were times b...

On this week's episode of the Modern Retail Rundown, the editorial team dives into some of the updates announced at Amazon Accelerate, the company's annual sellers' conference. Then, we discuss two prominent bankruptcies: Tupperware and Red Lobster. The Tupperware news was just announced this week, and Red Lobster has emerged from bankruptcy with a new owner.

"I'm like a dinosaur," said Reggie Milligan. While literally hyperbole, there is some truth to his claim. Milligan is the founder and CEO of Mantry, a male-targeted food subscription box. Mantry, which is available in the U.S. and features up-and-coming American brands, has been around since 2012 -- it experienced the precipitous rise of subscription boxes and its fast decline. But the company is...

On today's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff kicks things off with the latest on Big Lots' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, including a private equity takeover bid. With a valuation of $2 billion, Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty is reportedly pausing plans to sell the 4-year-old company given the current instability of M&A activity. Finally, Amazon sent out a notice to sellers that it plans to sell ad spac...

Many department stores and apparel retailers are facing industry headwinds. But one New York-based retailer has been able to buck the trend. Menswear retailer Rothmans has been around for decades, and continues to see sales grow every year. It's also become a well-known destination for media personalities and entertainment industry designers. It also helps that Rothmans is in a part of retail that...

On the Modern Retail Rundown this week, the staff discusses three retailers' latest growth roadmaps. First, Walmart Marketplace announced a new partnership with sneaker bidding site StockX. Then, the founding Nordstrom family is bidding to buy out the retailer to take it private. Finally, nearly a year after Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy, the now privately-held drugstore has a new CEO and plans to...

Croissant believes it has found a way to get more retailers and brands excited about resale. The business isn't a resale platform, per se. Instead, Croissant users can go to any retailer or brand's website and see a guaranteed resale value price that they would recoup if they bought the product new and then resold it to Croissant sometime later. "We describe ourselves as the first shopping tool th...

On this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses the issues plaguing Dollar General as it tries to lure bargain shoppers with its low-priced products. Lululemon's stalled growth in the U.S. also shows that the company isn't as economy-resistant as it has been over the last few years. Meanwhile, Foot Locker is scrapping international growth in favor of cost-cutting to improve profit margin...