The Safari

John Ballay is the CEO and Co-Founder of Knot Standard, the custom menswear brand known for its tailor made suits. Since it’s conception, Knot Standard’s solution-based brand and strong curation of product has helped it create an impressive global following. We talk about: growing the stickiness of the customer, the influence of hospitality throughout the customer journey, his strategy behind bran...

Benjamin Witte is the Founder of Recess, a beverage brand and a burgeoning media company on a mission to awaken creativity in all of us. Since 2018, the internet-born retailer has generated an incredible amount of buzz by designing a collection of beverages aimed to help people feel balanced, centered and inspired. We talk about: the idea behind “taking a recess”, his approach to content creation...

Julian Steinberg is the Co-Founder of Alliance Consumer Growth. Since 2011, he and his colleagues have built ACG into one of the leading consumer growth investment funds in the United States. They have invested in many household names ranging from Harry’s Shaving, Tata Harper, Shake Shack, Clio, Lola, BarkTHINS, and most recently Hershel. We talk about: his strategy of investing, shifts in consume...

Matt Scanlan is the founder and CEO of Naadam, a digital native Cashmere company that works directly with herders to create high quality and sustainable knitwear. His approach to building brands that are rooted in understanding consumer psychology has made the companies he leads both highly sought-after and exciting. We talk about: the creation of Naadam, his partnership with Thakoon and Arielle C...

Zahra Ahmed is the CEO of DL1961, a sustainable denim brand on a mission to create jeans for the next generation. Centered on the idea of merging technology and mindfully-made products, DL1961 offers jeans using premium materials and innovative fibers alongside the most efficient production methods to ensure a product that looks good also does better for the environment. As a result, DL1961 is one...

Frédéric Fekkai is the Executive Chairman of Blue Mistral: co-founder of Bastide and founder of his namesake brand Fekkai. His first atelier at Bergdof Goodman served as his launching pad and gave him a platform to showcase his impeccable detail to service, innovative approach to beauty, and eye for luxury. His perspective of seeing beauty through the lens of the customer has continued to help Fek...

In the spirit of continuing a TRAUB tradition, this year we revisited our previous US New Davids report for our fourth and final annual study. In this year's study we curated a selection of 350+ digital native brands across five key categories: fashion, accessories, beauty, wellness and home. We talk about: ways in which New Davids are expanding into multiple distribution channels including retail...

Anthony Buono is the Global President of Retail at CBRE, leading the implementation of global retail strategy in the Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA. His perspective of seeing retail through the lens of data and design has continued to help CBRE push the envelope on the retail and real estate landscape. We talk about: how retailers turn to more agile use of spaces, adaptive reuse of big-boxes, th...

Christine Hunsicker is the Founder and CEO of CaaStle, a B2B technology platform empowering retailers and fashion brands to participate in the rental economy. She has channeled her 18 years of experience in B2B, data and technology startups in order to strengthen the rental industry and help fashion brands evolve their business models. We talk about: the concept of "clothing as a service", rental'...

Ken Himmel is the President and CEO of Related Urban, the nation’s leader of large-scale mixed-use developments. With over 30 years of experience, he has spearheaded multiple successful projects, all of which unite urban planning, residences and offices with exciting shopping, restaurants, and art venues. His ability to draw inspiration from local culture and lifestyle while also introducing innov...

Tony Spring is the Chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale’s. With experience in marketing, direct-to-consumer, and restaurants, he is one of the most well-rounded CEOs in retail. We talk about: the power of cross-functional thinking, the strategy of quantifying the media value of department stores, his vision to evolve the shopping experience into something distinctive, the reimagination of Bloomingdale...

Mazdack Rassi is the Co-Founder of Milk Studios, Milk Makeup, and Camp David. Over the last decade, Milk has gone from being a production and events space to a full-service creative beehive doing work in print, physical, and digital domains. Above all, however, the power of Milk has been its ability to cultivate a proactive and engaged community. We talk about: the codes and inclusive DNA of Milk,...

David Rabinowitz is the Co-Chair of Goulston & Storr's retail, restaurant, and consumer group. With his 30 years of experience, there are few people who know as much as he does in counseling non-U.S retailers with their expansions into North America and advising developers in connection with acquisitions. Geoff Lurie is the President and COO of Traub. We talk about: how companies should launch the...

Streetsense is a leading design collective focused on activating, transforming, and creating brands and places. Streetsense’s CEO, Brian Taff, and Senior Design Director of Interior Architecture, Brian Miller, join us today to discuss: the role placemaking plays in driving value for real estate; the importance of community building in design; the valuable partnership between CBRE and Streetsense;...

Scott Malkin is the Founder and Chairman of Value Retail, the company behind the must-visit international destination, The Bicester Village Shopping Collection, that specializes exclusively in the development and operation of luxury shopping Villages across Europe and Asia. Each Village offers brands exceptional growth, the development of new markets and an introduction to new, young, affluent, tr...

Rob Keve is the CEO and co-founder of Flow, the turnkey platform for brands to go global by converting brands' international demand into sales. Flow seamlessly addresses the challenges of entering new markets by acting upon the complexities of selling products online. We talk about: the new strategies for brands to go global, the pain points of selling internationally, how to drive traffic to site...

Jared Konstanty is the CEO of the 140 year old Signature Brands, a business centered on celebrations large and small. Its most current innovation focuses on making the act of decorating simple and compelling for families via some of their notable brands such as Betty Crocker decorating, PAAS and Pumpkin Masters. We talk about: the importance of consumer behavior, the strategies of crafting family...

Heath Wells is the CEO and co-founder of NuORDER, a digital showroom that is evolving an antiquated wholesale process. With over 500,000 retailers on the platform, NuORDER is only scratching the surface of how it can impact the wholesale space. We talk about: the shift in consumers’ buying incentives, the partnership between retailers and brands, the transition into new points of sales, DTC brands...

Jennie Baik is the co-founder and CEO of Orchard Mile. Few people have as direct a view into how businesses in luxury are doing on line. We talk about: what works on line and what doesn’t, What brands should do to amplify their DTC business, personalization, loyalty, the young luxury consumer, network effects and the future of retail in a “digalogue” world.    Interviewed by Mortimer Singer.

Billy Susman helps bridge the left and the right brain in the industry of design, beauty and retail. Billy has been in banking for over 30 years. Billy runs one of the best known consumer focused boutique investment banks, Threadstone Advisors. He advises brands of all shapes and sizes on how to handle the often hard to navigate consumer corporate finance world. We discuss valuations, strategic vs...

Michael Stone is one of the oracles of branding and is the Chairman and founder of the Beanstalk Group, one of the world’s most storied licensing agencies who has helped build, through licensing, some of the world’s most storied brands ranging from Coca Cola to the Olsen twins. We discuss “customer entanglement” via licensing as well as segments from his new book: The Power of Licensing: Harnessin...

Joel Towers is one of the most progressive thinkers in modern academia having instituted strict sustainability guidelines into the curriculum at Parsons over a decade ago. Joel is University Professor at The New School and the beloved former Executive Dean of Parsons. We speak about sustainability, the Anthropocene, polarizing times and design in the “board room”   Interviewed by Mortimer Singer.

No two people know where the puck is going better than this talented duo. Faith Kates is the founder of Next Model Management. She is joined by her colleague Jennifer Gavin who heads up their influencer division. We discuss modeling, influencers, branding in the age of the internet, photography and “Gen Z”   Interviewed by Mortimer Singer.

The Safari is a guided tour around the retail, brand and consumer landscape. We interview the brightest and innovative industry leaders who share how they are shaping and evolving the industry in the years to come. Guests come from all corners of the industry from retail, beauty, fashion, CPG, academia, agencies, real estate, investing and more.  Tune in to hear from some of the guests we'll be ta...