In episode 222 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Mike Del Pozzo, chief customer officer and senior vice president of sales at Frito-Lay North America, a leading PepsiCo snack foods brand. Listen in as Del Pozzo discusses the history of the 80-year-old brand, its distribution channels, and how shifting consumer behaviors has impacted…
Joe Keenan
Rent the Runway, the clothing rental platform now valued at $1 billion, is expanding its partnership with Nordstrom. The two companies tell Fast Company exclusively that they will be blending their capabilities along many dimensions, including creating new products together and incorporating Nordstrom inventory into the Rent the Runway system. For Rent the Runway customers, the most immediate…
In an interview at eTail East in Boston earlier this year, Behzad Soltani, chief digital officer at Movado Group, parent company of leading watch brands such as Movado, Concord, EBEL, Hugo Boss Watches, and more, detailed the company's commitment to being an omnichannel organization, from operations to marketing, among other functions. Soltani participated on a…
Good Chemistry, a Target-exclusive brand and candle seller owned by parent company ILLUME, wanted to reach consumers directly and capture customer data they didn't have access to. To help build out its direct-to-consumer (D-to-C) business, Good Chemistry turned to e-commerce agency We Make Websites to launch its first site on Shopify Plus. In this exclusive interview with…
Amazon.com has begun hiring for a new grocery store that’s slated to open next year in a neighborhood of Los Angeles. The store is located in Woodland Hills, according to a job posting on Amazon’s website. It’s the first location of what's expected to be a new chain of grocery stores launched by Amazon. The new store isn’t…
In episode 221 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Nizzi Renaud, chief marketing officer at Zazzle, an online marketplace that allows designers and customers to create their own products with independent manufacturers. Listen in as Renaud discusses the unique ecosystem of Zazzle's marketplace, how its custom products are manufactured, and the wide…
Costco is teaming up with delivery startup Instacart to test free delivery of prescription drugs to its members. The pilot program is limited to California and Washington state, according to two people familiar, and includes delivery to a Costco member’s home or office. One Costco member who has used the service told CNBC that he…
Beauty products subscription service Birchbox will expand its partnership with Walgreens for the holiday season by displaying fixtures inside 500 of the drugstore’s locations in 44 states. The Birchbox displays will be available from this Friday through the end of December. The displays will include limited-edition travel-themed Birchbox Beauty and Birchbox Grooming boxes, an Advent…
Barneys New York Inc’s flagship Madison Avenue outlet in Manhattan will remain open for at least another year, albeit in a slimmed-down form, while the buyer of the luxury retailer negotiates with the store’s landlord. A bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Barneys brands and other intellectual property to Authentic Brands, a firm that acquires and…
In episode 220 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Louis Amoroso, president, direct-to-consumer at DRINKS, which operates Wine Insiders, the leading consumer marketplace for high-quality and affordable premium wine available for delivery across the United States. Amoroso discusses the brand's history, how it evolved from a mail order catalog to an online…
Best Buy has launched a $2.5 million endowed scholarship at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management to help fund four years of college for up to 10 students a year, starting next fall. It's one of the company's largest gifts in higher education. The scholarship is targeted to students who have gone through…
VOLT Lighting is an outdoor lighting retailer specializing in factory-direct, professional-grade landscape lighting. The company advertises on Google, Bing, and Amazon.com, along with Facebook and trade publications. With bandwidth at a premium, VOLT Lighting sought a partner with a multichannel marketing solution that could ease day-to-day operations and improve performance. VOLT Lighting partnered with Sidecar…
Amazon.com just added a new perk to its popular Prime membership program: free grocery delivery. The retailer announced today that it will start delivering grocery products within a two-hour window to all Prime members living in the 2,000 regions eligible for the service. That means Prime members, who pay $119 per year in the U.S.…
In episode 219 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Jason Schott, chief operating officer of Schott NYC, a manufacturer and retailer of premium outdoor clothing, including leather jackets, motorcycle apparel, and other clothing and accessories. Listen in as Schott discusses the brand's use of local social advertising to support its brick-and-mortar stores…
Destination Maternity, owner of brands such as A Pea in the Pod and Motherhood, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company plans to shutter 183 stores. The move comes after the Moorestown, N.J., retailer has struggled for years to regain its footing…
