Kristen LaFrance is the host of Shopify's Resilient Retail series. Prior to joining the Shopify team, she hosted two eCommerce podcasts: Playing for Keeps and eComm Noms. As the official mayor of DTC Twitter, Kristen is an expert on omnichannel customer retention and helping online and offline brands connect with customers, craft remarkable experiences, & build resilience for long-term success.
What does the future of retail look like? Is the apocalypse coming? And what makes a retailer resilient? Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify is here to share his thoughts on the state of retail, the difference between resilience and resistance, and how Shopify is deeply invested in brick and mortar merchants.
The holidays are going to look different this year. No Black Friday door busting, families opening gifts via Zoom, it's an unpredictable season for retailers. Halie LeSavage, writer of Retail Brew and Nik Sharma, THE DTC guy are here to help. On this episode, we go deep into curbside pickup, 'Shop and Ship,' local delivery, retailer partnerships and more.
Corianna & Brianna Dotson, twin sisters and co-owners of Coco and Breezy Eyewear are two of the most inspirational and authentic entrepreneurs there are. On this episode, Coco and Breezy are here to share powerful insights into running a Black-owned business in 2020, retail partnerships, popups, building a brand, designing the iconic Third-Eye glasses for Prince, and more.
Beardbrand, a digitally native brand based in Austin Texas, recently opened up their own barbershop... in the midst of a global pandemic. Eric Bandholz, Founder and CEO is here to talk about his strategy, the early lessons from retail, and how this new space helped him reach 1M impressions on YouTube.
2020 has been tough for everyone, but micro-retailers have generally been hit the hardest. Between forced closures, lack of government aid, and navigating eCommerce for the first time, being a two-woman team is far from easy. Steph La Posta, Co-owner of Common People in Toronto brings us a real, honest conversation on the struggles they have faced this year.
Despite no one wearing a bra since March, Lively has been able to survive (and thrive) throughout 2020 by focusing on creative, subtle shifts in the business. Michelle Cordeiro Grant, Founder and CEO of Lively joins us today to talk about creating the leisuree category, building a raving community, and staying nimble with Lively's brick and mortar presence.
For Mack Weldon, retail is all about taking a digital-first online shopping experience and bringing it to life in their Hudson Yards store. Brian Berger (CEO and Founder) joins us today to share how direct-to-consumer, omnichannel commerce has fuelled Mack Weldon's breakout performance in a highly competitive market.
Pattern Brands is working to help people enjoy daily life again through their family of lifestyle DTC brands. Emmett Shine, Founder and Chief Creative Officer joins us today to share stories about founding a branding agency in 2007, breaking down traditional barriers, the power of change and what it's like to be kicked out of Adidas' headquarters early in your career.
Since the early 90s, streetwear culture has exploded—and Jeff Staple has been there every step of the way. Jeff designed the first Nike sneaker to cause riots. He launched a retail boutique and art gallery in NYC. He founded a leading visual communications agency. And now, he hosts The Business of Hype podcast on Hypebeast Radio. You can say that Jeff has easily had a hand in just about every facet of streetwear, including its transformative impact on the retail industry. Today, he sits down with us to share how the love story between streetwear and retail started, and where it might be heading next.
Since the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matters protests, every industry is working to create equality. But has the beauty industry truly embraced the fight for equal representation? Christina Funke Tegbe, founder and creative visionary behind award-winning beauty brand 54 Thrones, shares her thoughts on the push towards equality, partnering with major retailers like Nordstrom, and how she's connecting customers to suppliers who have previously been left out of the conversation.
The travel industry has taken a big hit during the pandemic, and cities like Las Vegas, where tourist traffic powers the retail economy, are facing mounting challenges. Doughp recently shut down their flagship retail location on the Vegas Strip—today, founder Kelsey Moreira shares what the cookie dough brand is doing to adapt and how they're continuing to support their mental health-focused mission.
Before the pandemic hit, 98% of TC Running's business came through in-person, in-store interactions. So when they had to shut down their two Minnesota retail locations, they needed to move their entire business online—fast. Today, brand director Jeff Bull gives us the inside lane on TC Running's sprint towards online selling and why omnichannel is now the foundation of their retail business (including their instant hit loyalty program).
When the pandemic forced a total halt to all production, restaurant sales, and foot traffic, Great Lakes Brewery needed to think quick to keep getting their craft beer into the hands of customers. Today, Troy Burtch joins us to discuss how the Great Lakes Brewery team launched local beer delivery in less than a week and kept their brewing business afloat.
CJ Johnson is an acclaimed startup advisor with tons of experience consulting for small businesses, Fortune 50 clients, and everyone in between. He's also managed massive influencer marketing campaigns—both as an advisor, and as an influencer himself (with hundreds of thousands of followers). Today, CJ shares his expert insights into how retailers can level up their digital marketing, and what his ideal retail space would look like.
We're all on more video calls than ever these days, but video has also been having a huge impact on how retail stores are operating too. This whole week, we'll be talking with our pals from HERO, a Shopify app that lets retail associates video chat with online store shoppers; used by everyone from Nike to Levi's to UNTUCKit. Adam Levene, founder of HERO, joins us today to dive deeper into how the lines between ecommerce and retail are blurring during the pandemic, especially when it comes to customer service and personal shopping.
The Detox Market on rethinking the role of retail store associates with Romain Gaillard and Adam Levene
With foot traffic down and a greater focus on ecommerce, retail stores have started to seek out new opportunities for the passionate and knowledgeable folks they already have working their sales floors. Today, Romain Gaillard (Founder, The Detox Market) and Adam Levene (Founder, HERO) join us to talk about how the Detox Market transformed their operations by empowering their store associates to bring their expertise and talents online.
When we say this next guest is cool—we mean that she's the "I've met Rihanna" level of cool. Holly Cann is the Senior Brand Manager for Rihanna's skincare line, Fenty Skin. Today, Holly joins us to give an inside look at how the powerhouse beauty brand has worked through the complexities of 2020, including throwing their own virtual house party with Lil Nas X.
Heatonist is a New York City based shop that specializes in top shelf hot sauces. Founder and owner of Heatonist, Noah Chaimberg joins us today alongside a special guest, Shopify's President Harley Finkelstein as they discuss meeting each other at summer camp, going from selling hot sauce from a pushcart to two retail locations, and partnering with one of the world's most popular media outlets.
Small businesses have been incredibly resilient through COVID — but they'll need even more help to get through the winter. That's why Gusto is calling on Congress and state officials to act now. Today we're joined by Lexi Reese, COO of Gusto to talk about this push. Lexi and Kristen get into the real economic impacts the retail industry has faced in 2020, what you can do to take care of your employees, what the next round of aid needs to look like, and how we can protect our local economies as winter approaches.
While COVID-19 has kept folks further away from each other physically, it's revealed the true importance of relationship building between brands and customers. Today, Alexandra Waldman (Founder, Universal Standard) joins us to share how the innovative and inclusive retailer used personal shopping and one-on-one appointments to bring their business closer to the future of fashion.
Daily Paper on Community-Centric Retail and Global Branding with Hussein Suleiman, Jefferson Osei, and Abderrahmane Trabsini
Combining the founders' rich African heritage with contemporary fashion design, Daily Paper has become one of the fastest growing fashion brands out of Europe. And now, they've opened their first flagship store in NYC. In this episode, Kristen sits down with all three Daily Paper Founders (Hussein Suleiman, Jefferson Osei, and Abderrahmane Trabsini) to dive into the differences between European and American retail culture, reinvigorating a local neighborhood with artistic design, playing the long-game, and building a worldwide fan base.
The future of commerce is local. It's human-centric. It's all about community. Today, Kristen sits down with Jaime Schmidt, Founder of Schmidt's Naturals, a personal care brand that has now been acquired by Unilever and Helena Price Hambrecht, Founder and CEO of Haus, a wildly popular DTC aperitif brand to talk about this shift towards connection. You'll hear how these two founders grew their brands through grassroots, localized marketing and how to truly serve your customers above all else. Plus, Jaime and Helena share their stories of failure, fear, and perseverance.
2020 has been a year and a half. And yet, Knix and KT by Knix, popular direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brands have found massive success through two highly strategic marketing plays: virtual styling and off-season warehouse sales. Today, join Kristen and Joanna Griffiths, founder and CEO of Knix as they dig into these COVID-friendly tactics, the awkwardness of bra shopping, and why it's more important than ever for brands to stand for something.
Today, Kristen sits down with Kat Cole, COO and President of FOCUS Brands, the parent company to Auntie Anns, Cinnabon, Schlotzchky’s, Carbell Ice cream, Mo's, and Mcalister’s Deli. So yeah, she knows retail. Kat tells the story about growing Hooters into a global business in her 20s, how brands can act local while thinking global, and how to deconstruct your brand to its core to make strategic pivots.
What happens when your entire supply chain can't produce your products? When demand outweighs your yearly supply in a mere 3 weeks? This is what happened to Julia Di Simone and the team at tokyobike throughout the pandemic. tokyobike is an independent bicycle company founded in Japan, and growing rapidly throughout the US and Europe. Based on the concept of Tokyo Slow their bicycles are designed to explore the places we love and call home. Julia us through the highly strategized ethos of their retail operations, how they unified their commerce across online and offline, and how the company is dealing with the overwhelming demand for their bikes this year.
Let's close out season one with a recap ...and holy moly it’s been a season. We’ll be walking through the six main themes of Resilient Retail and hear from some of our incredible guests this season. Embracing the uncomfortable, taking the in-store experience online, the rise of new fulfillment methods, holistic (omnichannel) commerce, leaning into community, and, of course, resiliency.
