Brands Briefing: Inside Cotopaxi’s Plans to Double Its Store Count by 2029
Cotopaxi, the outdoor‑gear brand known for its socially‑driven products, announced a plan to double its North American store footprint from 20 to 40 locations within the next three years. CEO Lindsay Shumlas said the expansion will push physical‑store sales—currently under 20% of total revenue—to a larger share of the business. The latest store opened in Jackson, Wyoming in March, signaling the start of a broader brick‑and‑mortar push. Cotopaxi will continue selling online and through partners such as REI and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Retailers Turn to Digital Rebates as Alcohol Sales Slump
Retail grocers and convenience stores are rolling out digital alcohol cashback programs through Swiftly to counter a 5% year‑over‑year decline in liquor sales. Swiftly’s platform grew from about 11,000 to over 33,000 stores in 44 states after acquiring BYBE, enabling...
Fifth Avenue’s Next Chapter: Inside the Push to Evolve the Iconic Shopping Corridor
Upper Fifth Avenue, the world’s most expensive retail corridor, is undergoing a $402 million redesign to widen sidewalks, add trees, and prioritize pedestrians. Rents remain sky‑high at over $2,000 per square foot, while the Fifth Avenue Association, a century‑old nonprofit, coordinates...
Cymbiotika Lands in Ulta Just Months After Launching in Target
Cymbiotika, the liposomal supplement startup, is launching on Ulta’s website on March 15 and in more than 1,000 Ulta stores on March 29, expanding its retail footprint after a Target debut last fall. The rollout introduces four products, including an NAD formula...
Chicken Is Having a Moment as the High-Protein Craze Continues
The high‑protein trend is pushing chicken into the snack category, highlighted at Expo West where brands like Chomps and Juicybite launched chicken‑based sticks and heat‑and‑serve bites. Chomps’ new chicken sticks provide 12 g protein per 80‑calorie serving, outperforming its beef line,...
Brands Briefing: Wellness Brands Take over Expo West to Woo Retail Buyers
The 2026 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim saw a pronounced influx of wellness brands, with startups showcasing collagen, hormonal supplements and other health‑focused products alongside traditional functional sodas and better‑for‑you snacks. Historically a food‑and‑beverage‑centric event, Expo West is now...
Every Man Jack Plots a 2026 Refresh as Men’s Personal Care Category Becomes More Saturated
Every Man Jack is positioning 2026 as a breakout year by launching a brand refresh that targets two distinct consumer personas—“Jack,” the seasoned grooming enthusiast, and “Jake,” the sustainability‑focused newcomer. The overhaul includes PET packaging for better recyclability, a sub‑$10...
How Camp Snap, Tin Can and More Are Capitalizing on the Desire for ‘Screen-Free’ Tech
Camp Snap, a screen‑free digital camera launched in 2023, has sold over one million units and repeatedly sold out its flagship model, driven largely by word‑of‑mouth and influencer buzz. The brand’s growth mirrors a broader anti‑tech wave that includes Tin Can...
Bulletproof Sheds Biohack Coffee Image for a Simpler Wellness Rebrand
Bulletproof, the functional coffee brand founded by Dave Asprey, is shedding its decade‑old biohacker image in favor of a streamlined wellness positioning. Under new CEO Harry Lewis and following Bia Food’s acquisition, the company is trimming its portfolio to focus...
Modern Retail Podcast: The New Rules of Product Pricing
In a Modern Retail Podcast episode, Newell Brands’ learning and development chief Kris Malkoski explains how Graco is reshaping its pricing playbook amid AI‑driven insights, tariff volatility, and price‑sensitive shoppers. The discussion reveals Graco’s use of artificial intelligence to fine‑tune...
Target CEO Says ‘Busy Families’ Will Be Company’s Focus as It Seeks Growth
Target’s CEO Michael Fiddelke announced a renewed focus on “busy families,” positioning them as the engine of the retailer’s turnaround. The strategy includes expanding baby‑care assortments with a premium boutique, boosting food and beverage space, and scaling same‑day delivery, which...
Marketplace Briefing: TikTok Shop Recruits U.S. Sellers for Cross-Border Push Into Mexico
TikTok Shop announced a new US‑Mexico cross‑border program that lets U.S. merchants sell to Mexican consumers without establishing a local legal entity. The initiative, called the TikTok Shop US‑MX Program, allows sellers to use their existing U.S. shop credentials while...
Brands Briefing: Caraway Makes Its First Big OOH Push as It Seeks to Make the Brand ‘Impossible to Ignore’
Caraway, a six‑year‑old cookware startup, has launched its first major out‑of‑home (OOH) advertising campaign to become “impossible to ignore.” The eye‑catching mural at Columbus Circle subway targets high‑traffic commuters. After growing from a pure DTC model, the brand now sells...
Maternity Brand Ingrid & Isabel Launches First Walmart Line After 20 Years in Business
Ingrid & Isabel, a leading U.S. maternity brand, is debuting its first line at Walmart, entering 3,800 stores and Walmart.com. The new “For Every Belly” collection offers essentials such as leggings, tees and denim priced between $10 and $30, roughly...
From Lollipops to Lobsters, Whatnot Pushes Further Into Selling Food via Livestream Shopping
Whatnot, the livestream shopping platform, has expanded its food category from shelf‑stable snacks to fresh seafood and meat, achieving a 30% month‑over‑month growth and a 2.5× rise in transactions between July 2025 and January 2026. Sales of iconic brands like...
2026 Modern Retail Index: How Retailers Are Tackling Financial Challenges, AI, Marketplaces and Supply Chain
Retailers faced a turbulent 2025, grappling with tariffs, supply-chain disruptions and a cooling consumer market. While some brands posted gains, drugstore chains such as Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS shuttered hundreds of locations, and big‑box retailers struggled with shifting demand...
From Boll & Branch to Bogg, Brands Are Battling a Surge of AI-Driven Return Fraud
Retailers are confronting a new wave of return fraud powered by AI‑generated images. Executives at Boll & Branch and Bogg Bag discovered counterfeit photos used to claim damaged goods, prompting tighter verification. Experts say AI tools have accelerated fraud, contributing to an estimated...
Modern Retail Podcast: Marketing Is Experiencing an AI Reckoning
In the latest Modern Retail Podcast, co‑hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels, joined by executive editor Anna Hensel, examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping retail marketing. They note that rising customer‑acquisition costs and a more discerning shopper base are driving...
Gymboree Turns to Partnerships with Brands Like Marchesa for Its Next Stage of Growth
Gymboree is reviving its brand by launching co‑branded collections, beginning with a limited‑edition Marchesa line priced between $20 and $170. The retailer also introduced everyday collaborations with Peter Rabbit and Hello Kitty, aiming to attract both special‑occasion and casual shoppers....
Why Ruggable’s Lauren Sherman Is Focused on Resetting the Balance of Brand and Performance Marketing
Lauren Sherman, Ruggable’s chief marketing officer, is leading a deliberate reset that shifts focus from pure performance‑driven digital spend to brand‑centric initiatives. After seven months in the role, she aims to embed consumer‑led creative, real‑world activations, and designer collaborations into...
How IKEA Got Closer to Its Shoppers with New Small-Format Stores, Best Buy Partnership
IKEA U.S. announced four new stores in Chicago, Tulsa, Fort Collins and Los Angeles, bringing its 2026 rollout to ten locations, including its first city‑center store in LA and first Oklahoma outlet. The retailer posted $5.3 billion in total sales for fiscal 2025, with...
Hims Alums Launch Fiber-Boosted Sweetener Brand Poca
Hilary Coles and Emily Boschwitz, former Hims executives, have launched Poca, a zero‑calorie sweetener syrup enriched with three grams of fiber per serving. The product combines allulose, monk fruit, and inulin, avoiding sugar alcohols and stevia, and is offered in portable sachets...
The Anatomy of Perfect Content: How Marketers Can Reach Consumers in the AI Era
The Expedia Group Advertising "Science of Wanderlust" study surveyed over 7,000 consumers and used eye‑tracking to pinpoint the creative elements that cut through today’s AI‑saturated content stream. It found video drives purchase intent three times more than static images, while...
The Playbook for Winning over Price-Conscious Consumers
U.S. retail sales are still growing modestly despite inflation, but brands must win over increasingly price‑conscious shoppers. Executives say the era of blunt discounting is giving way to “value articulation,” where consumers evaluate a product’s real‑life solution and equity impact....
From Prime Day and Black Friday to Surprise Spikes: Why Retailers Are Rethinking Peak Sales Readiness
Retailers are abandoning the outdated notion of seasonal peak‑sales windows and adopting a year‑round growth‑readiness mindset. Unexpected demand spikes—from TikTok trends to surprise influencer drops—can now rival traditional events like Prime Day, exposing fragile point‑to‑point integrations. Mark Simon of Celigo...
Walmart Says AI Users Build 35% Bigger Baskets than Others
Walmart’s AI‑driven shopping assistant, Sparky, is generating baskets that are about 35% larger than those of non‑users, according to CEO John Furner on the Q4 earnings call. Launched in June, Sparky lives behind a smiley‑face button in the Walmart app...
Marketplace Briefing: Inside Marc Lore and Melissa Bridgeford’s AI Shopping Agent Wizard
Wizard, the AI shopping agent co‑founded by Marc Lore and Melissa Bridgeford, has moved from a stealth B‑to‑B conversational commerce model to a consumer‑facing platform. Founded in 2021, the startup spent years refining its technology before publicly debuting in February...
Amazon Surpasses Walmart in Annual Revenue for the First Time
Amazon reported $716.9 billion in 2025 revenue, overtaking Walmart's $713.2 billion for the first time. The shift ends Walmart's 13‑year streak as Fortune's top‑revenue company and highlights Amazon's transformation into a tech‑services powerhouse. Growth is now driven by Amazon Web Services, advertising...
TikTok Shop Halts Plan to End Independent Shipping for U.S. Sellers After Backlash
TikTok Shop has scrapped its planned deadline to end seller‑fulfilled shipping for U.S. merchants, keeping the existing independent‑shipping model in place for now. The reversal follows a wave of backlash from brands that warned the shift would raise fulfillment costs,...
Macy’s Is Drawing on Events Like the Thanksgiving Day Parade to Grow Its Creator Program
Macy’s is scaling its Style Crew influencer program in 2026, aiming to grow from roughly 600 members to 1,000 by adding more in‑person events tied to marquee assets like the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The creator storefronts have generated a 478%...
Brands Briefing: The Brands that Are Ripe for Acquisition in 2026
M&A activity is reviving in 2026 after a subdued 2025. Last year saw marquee deals such as e.l.f. Beauty’s $1 billion purchase of Rhode and PepsiCo’s $2 billion acquisition of Poppi. Tariff pressures that kept many potential buyers on the sidelines are...
Dutch Bros Plans More Locations in 2026 After Growing Revenue by Nearly 30% in 2025
Dutch Bros reported a record $1.64 billion revenue in 2025, a 27.9% year‑over‑year increase, and announced plans to open roughly 181 new stores in 2026. The chain aims to reach 2,029 locations by 2029, testing walk‑up formats and scaling a food...
Exclusive: Chubbies Launches Women’s Swimwear Brand Cheekies
Chubbies, the men’s‑shorts brand, has introduced Cheekies, a dedicated women’s swimwear line, debuting online and slated for select Dick’s Sporting Goods and Chubbies stores. The collection, a result of a two‑year research effort by an all‑women design team, offers adjustable...
Thrive Market’s Amina Pasha Believes Brands that Focus on Trust Will Win in an AI-First World
Amina Pasha, CMO of Thrive Market, argues that trust will be the decisive advantage for brands in an AI‑first landscape. The online grocery retailer, with over 1.7 million paying members, is leveraging AI to personalize discovery while reinforcing its mission of...
Brands Lean Into Grand Gestures This Valentine’s Day
Brands are turning to grand‑gesture promotions to cut through the clutter of Valentine’s Day advertising. Venus et Fleur revived its 10‑foot floral pop‑up trucks in major cities, offering a $5,000 influencer prize. Brilliant Earth introduced hyper‑personalized showroom date‑night experiences in...
Blind Boxes Are Here to Stay, and Brands Are Leaning Into the Mystery Product Format
Blind boxes are cementing their place in retail, with beauty brands leading the surge. Gisou, Emi Jay, Ipsy and major retailers like Walmart have launched limited‑edition mystery boxes that sell out within days. Ipsy’s monthly mystery bags posted a 30%...
Modern Retail Podcast: Inside the Super Bowl Activation Boom
The Modern Retail Podcast explores how brands are sidestepping the $8 million Super Bowl TV price tag by deploying pop‑ups, concerts, and other in‑real‑life experiences around Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. These activations aim to capture the attention of millions of...
The Health and Wellness Trends Modern Retail and Glossy Staffers Are Watching in 2026
Modern Retail and Glossy highlighted a surge in health‑focused consumer behavior for 2026, driven by wearable tech like the Oura ring and the rise of biohacking. Shoppers are increasingly demanding data‑backed efficacy for functional ingredients such as adaptogens, pre‑biotics, and...
Fitigues Is Back After Its Founders Reclaim the ‘90s Casual Brand
Fitigues, the iconic 1990s casualwear label, has returned after founders Steve and Andi Rosenstein reclaimed its intellectual property from Sycamore Partners. The duo opened a new flagship store in Scottsdale’s luxury shopping center and added a location at Newport Beach’s...
Goodwill Plans 100 New Stores for 2026 After Hitting Record Revenue in 2025
Goodwill Industries posted a record $7 billion in revenue for 2025, its strongest performance in 125 years, and processed roughly 300 million store transactions. Its online platform, ShopGoodwill.com, achieved $450 million in gross merchandise value, underscoring digital growth. To capitalize on rising thrift...
The Modern Retail Marketing Summit Heads to Huntington Beach This April
The Modern Retail Marketing Summit will convene top brand and retailer marketers in Huntington Beach from April 20‑22, spotlighting how companies are navigating rapid shifts in SEO, influencer, and AI-driven channels. Speakers include ThredUp’s SVP Kristen Brophy, Thrive Market’s CMO Amina Pasha, PacSun’s CMO...
Brands Briefing: Why Anthropologie Is Embracing Print Catalogs for Both Acquisition and Retention
Anthropologie is expanding its print catalog program, increasing annual issues from five to seven in 2026. The retailer will boost total circulation to 2.5 million copies, up from 2 million. A test‑and‑learn methodology drives the change, allowing the brand to send catalogs...
How Tree Hut Used AI to Turn Customer Feedback Into Product Insights and Quadruple Social Engagement
Tree Hut integrated an AI tool into its social channels to automatically process community comments and direct messages, creating a searchable database of consumer requests. The system quantified demand for the Cinnamon Dolce scent, revealing thousands of mentions that justified expanding the...
What Hemp Brands Want From Federal Regulations
Congressman Morgan Griffith introduced the Hemp Enforcement, Modernization and Protection (HEMP) Act, proposing federal caps on THC levels for hemp‑derived edibles, beverages, topicals and inhalables. The bill would limit oral products to 10 mg per serving and 5 mg of delta‑9 THC...
What C-Suite Additions and New Board Members at Walmart, Target Signal About Their Priorities
Walmart announced a sweeping C‑suite overhaul, moving growth, e‑commerce, and merchandising leaders into roles that centralize its global platforms and accelerate AI‑driven capabilities. New CEO John Furner highlighted the need for shared technology infrastructure to stay ahead of Amazon’s AI...
Modern Retail Podcast: How ICE Activity Became an Issue Retailers Big and Small Can No Longer Ignore
The Modern Retail Podcast examines how increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in cities such as Minneapolis is reshaping the retail landscape. Executives are grappling with heightened security concerns while shoppers stage protests that threaten foot traffic. Brands are...
Walmart’s and Target’s Outgoing CEOs Leave Contrasting Legacies
After more than a decade, Walmart and Target will each install new CEOs next week, ending the tenures of Doug McMillon and Brian Cornell. McMillon left Walmart with expanded three‑hour delivery coverage, a thriving Walmart+ membership, and a reengineered advertising...
Follett Is Making a Bigger Push Into Private-Label Merch at Its College Bookstores
Follett Higher Education, which runs roughly 1,000 college bookstores, is accelerating its private‑label strategy. The company launched the Cameron J performance‑apparel line, now in 190 locations and already generating millions in sales, while its earlier Campus United brand has posted...
Popflex’s Cassey Ho Is Taking Dupes of Her Viral Skort and Turning Them Into DIY Fashion Kits
Popflex founder Cassey Ho launched the Upcycle Project, offering DIY dress kits made from duplicated Pirouette Skort fabrics. The kits, designed by independent up‑cyclers Kiana Bonollo and Tracy Garcia, let customers deconstruct and redesign the material, with profits benefiting the...
Rhone Debuts Resale Site Built on Customer Returns
Rhone has launched ReRhone, a branded resale channel that sells customer returns through a partnership with Archive. The program debuts with roughly 400 items ranging from $19 to $274 and leverages the 5,000 returns the brand processes each month. By...