Most founders are loath to compare their businesses to other companies. Not the veterinary care startup Modern Animal. "We were definitely inspired by One Medical early on," said Steven Eidelman, founder and CEO of Modern Animal. "I think Tom Lee, the founder, was really a trailblazer for: How do we bring technology into health care?" The idea behind both companies was to add a technological element to health care to make the customer experience more seamless. Eidelman described the core problem...
Feb 06, 2025•42 min
On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the staff checks in on the latest tariff and import tax policy changes that are impacting U.S.-based brands. Meanwhile, layoffs across the industry continue as companies like Amazon, Shopify and Kohl's cut costs this month. Finally, Chili's parent company, Brinker International, reported positive sales as the casual restaurant chain underwent a turnaround strategy.
Feb 01, 2025•22 min
During the weekend when TikTok was briefly offline, Whatnot -- a platform that lets online brands and merchants sell products via livestreams on its app and website -- saw its user numbers surge. "It was our biggest weekend for new sellers -- both in terms of news sign-ups and also sellers who went live for the first time," said Armand Wilson, vp of categories and expansion at Whatnot. "Over that Saturday, Sunday, Monday, we saw a huge spike -- and we continued to see those numbers since then." ...
Jan 30, 2025•34 min
In this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses the latest retail news headlines. First, we dive into the latest developments about a retail theft ring that cost companies millions of dollars. Then, we check in on TikTok and what its future looks like. We end with reports of layoffs at VF Corp and what that means for the company.
Jan 25, 2025•23 min
Renais has lofty ambitions to be the leading global ultra-premium gin brand. The company, which launched in 2023 in Europe and expanded to the U.S. last year, just raised a fresh round of capital and is working on expanding even further. It was founded by CEO Alex Watson and his sister, actress Emma Watson. Renais Gin isn't cheap -- it retails for around $60 a bottle. But it offers a product that reuses pressed wine grapes from the Watson family's vineyard in France, ultimately making a more sus...
Jan 23, 2025•33 min
On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the staff gives an update on Joann's latest bankruptcy filing, the second in 10 months for the craft retailer. Meanwhile, Walgreens CEO Timothy Wentworth said that locking products in cases is hurting the retailer's sales, and Walgreens is looking for other creative solutions to reduce store theft. Furthermore, days after banning artificial dye Red 3, the FDA is proposing food companies label their products with more transparent health claims.
Jan 18, 2025•30 min
With New Year's resolutions in full force, brands are trying to cash in on Dry January. Cannabis-infused beverage brand Cann, in fact, usually sees its sales jump every January due to more people teetotaling. "I just got these numbers earlier today," co-founder and CEO Jake Bullock said on this week's Modern Retail Podcast. "So online -- where we get the data the fastest -- this first week of January is up 75% from where it was this week last year." That's because the six-year-old company is inv...
Jan 16, 2025•37 min
On this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff begins by discussing the latest retail merger. Struggling department store J.C. Penney is merging with Sparc Group to form a new fashion retail entity called Catalyst Brands. At CES this week, Amazon announced a new program called Amazon Retail Ad Service that allows other retailers to use the company's tech to create their own ad networks. Lastly, this week, Target announced it's releasing 2,000 new products this week geared toward wellness at a l...
Jan 11, 2025•26 min
Where Starbucks zigs, Gregorys Coffee zags. That's at least been the unofficial strategy for the cafe chain over the last few years. Gregorys, which initially launched in 2006 in New York but has expanded to more than 50 locations throughout the U.S., sits at the intersection of craft coffee and convenience. It first launched during the early years of the third-wave coffee boom. Gregory's early days "sort of dovetailed with the third wave of coffee, as they called it -- people focusing more on t...
Jan 09, 2025•38 min
On this week's Modern Retail Rundown episode, the staff discusses several updates coming off of 2024. First up, a new report from Appriss shows that fraudulent returns totaled $103 billion last year out of a total of $685 billion in retail returns. Nordstrom announced it will go private through a buyout by the Nordstrom family in partnership with Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool. And just days after Big Lots began liquidating its stores, the retailer received a lifeline from investment fi...
Jan 04, 2025•25 min
On this week’s Modern Retail Podcast, three members of the editorial team dive into what’s to come in 2025. Senior reporter Gabriela Barko, managing editor Anna Hensel and senior reporter Melissa Daniels had a round table discussion about the major issues facing the retail industry. Hensel, for example, has been keeping a close eye on the M&A landscape. “My prediction is that we will see more IPOs next year, more M& A in certain areas, like CPG, but that, by and large, smaller, mid-marke...
Jan 02, 2025•35 min
On this week's Modern Retail Podcast, we're looking back at some of the best episodes from the last year. Host Cale Guthrie Weissman walks us through some of the most interesting conversations he's had with the most exciting retail executives. They include executives from Walmart, Tecovas, Celsius, Violife and more. Walmart's chief product officer, Jon Alferness, for example, spoke about the retailer's approach to AI. Similarly, buzzy startups also explained their growth playbooks. Olga Osminkin...
Dec 26, 2024•29 min
On this week's Modern Retail Rundown: November saw the U.S.'s monthly retail revenue grow by 0.7%, with solid holiday sales expected to come. Meanwhile, Big Lots said it is planning to close all its remaining stores in 2025 after the company failed to strike a sale deal. Lastly, DTC athleisure brand Vuori now has a $5.5 billion valuation coming off of a major fundraising round. The latest update has Wall Street once again predicting the startup to go public sometime soon.
Dec 21, 2024•28 min
Puma may be a legacy brand, but it's not scared to test out new technologies. Indeed, if there's a buzzy update, it's likely the company has launched some sort of beta with it. Puma launched a Roblox experience in 2022, it's tested out NFTs and other Web3 programs and has dabbled in augmented reality. Most recently, the sports apparel brand launched a generative AI tool that allows anyone to design a kit for Manchester City. According to the person leading the charge of these emerging technologi...
Dec 19, 2024•32 min
On this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses a new lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission of Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, which alleges the alcohol distributor has favored large chains over independent retailers in its pricing practice. Also this week, a new report from the Wall Street Journal claims that Walgreens is in talks with PE firm Sycamore Partners to take the struggling drugstore chain private. Lastly, we discuss a Bloomberg report about Amazon actively cracking do...
Dec 14, 2024•23 min
Better-for-you snack brand Chomps has big plans to take the convenience store space by storm. But it's being choosy about which stores it expands into. Chomps, which is best known for its high-protein meat sticks, has been around since 2012 and has been slowly expanding. Its first major retail deal was with Trader Joe's in 2016. The company was small and, at the time, most sold online. But it knew that a major wholesale partnership could take it to the next level. "That was a game changer for us...
Dec 12, 2024•33 min
On this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses the state of mall traffic, including Simon's big marketing-fueled boost on Black Friday weekend. Additionally, we dive into a Wall Street Journal report that PE firm Gryphon Investors is eyeing an acquisition of sparkling water brand Spindrift worth $650 million. Moreover, Foot Locker lowered its holiday quarter guidance as it struggles, some of which the retailer blamed on slowing Nike sales.
Dec 07, 2024•23 min
E-bikes are becoming more popular in the U.S. and Upway is trying to capitalize on this demand. The secondhand e-bike platform launched at the end of 2021 and has expanded beyond its Europe home into the United States in early 2023. The France-based company's model controls the entire supply chain -- buying used bikes directly from the source, inspecting them in its warehouses and then shipping to customers. In Europe, Upway is available in France, Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands, but the U...
Dec 05, 2024•33 min
On this week's Modern Retail Rundown, the staff discusses big box retailers' outlook on their end-of-year quarter, including Walmart's upbeat forecast and Target's less optimistic expectations. Moreover, Shein and Temu pose an additional threat to U.S. retailers this year, with more shoppers planning to buy from these China-based marketplaces. Finally, Modern Retail's research team highlights data from brands and their holiday revenue forecast.
Nov 30, 2024•22 min
Holiday shopping is in full swing and that means there are endless retail topics to discuss. That's why this week on the Modern Retail Podcast, we brought on our colleagues at the Glossy Beauty Podcast to talk about the major retail narratives we're observing. Modern Retail's editor-in-chief Cale Guthrie Weissman joined Glossy's West Coast correspondant Lexy Lebsack and senior reporter Sara Spruch-Feiner and dove into the major shopping trends dominating this holiday season. They discussed holid...
Nov 28, 2024•44 min
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.
Nov 23, 2024•28 min
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 liqueur category. Mr. Black launched in Australia but has become an international phenomenon; it was...
Nov 21, 2024•34 min
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, among others.
Nov 16, 2024•27 min
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 certain subjects. There are science crates, geography crates, art crates and more. It recently launched...
Nov 14, 2024•34 min
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 its marketplace.
Nov 09, 2024•26 min
"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 this month. But Paul, like many other creators, is trying to build consumer-facing brands as well. Hil...
Nov 07, 2024•33 min
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.
Nov 02, 2024•25 min
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 like Taylor Swift and Julia Fox showing off their Awe Inspired products. "We have some forces propelli...
Oct 31, 2024•31 min
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.
Oct 26, 2024•28 min
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 idea is "to create a unified hospitality landscape where we could have all of these ent...
Oct 24, 2024•32 min
