On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown: PepsiCo-owned Gatorade is adding more hydration SKUs that resemble Liquid I.V. and Prime. Meanwhile, department store retailers face yet another hurdle: A new law that limits payment late fees can hurt credit card revenue for retailers like Macy's and Kohl's. Lastly, Bark just announced Bark Air, a new airline program that offers pets and their owners a more comfortable flying experience ..read more

Every beauty startup these days describes itself as a clean beauty brand, but skin-care brand Kopari was ahead of the curve. "It's definitely table stakes now," said CEO Susan Kim. But, it wasn't always that way. "The way I think about clean is that back in 2015, it was a differentiator," Kim said. And that's what helped Kopari -- which makes products including cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreen and deodorant -- grow into the profitable brand it is today, with revenue growing 45% in 2023. Kim joined this week's Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the company's rise, as well as how the compan ..read more

On this week's Modern Retail Rundown: Ulta's latest performance shows that beauty sales may finally be decelerating. Retailers like Express, Peloton and Saks have reportedly been late on paying their vendors -- indicating cash flow issues. Finally, there was drama in the food startup space as Momofuku gets litigious with competitors ..read more

It's been a tough few years for roll-up companies, but Pattern Brands seems to have bucked the trend. The company -- which began as design agency Gin Lane and evolved into a portfolio of DTC brands including Open Spaces, Onset and Gir -- raised a $25 million Series B in 2022 -- and has been slowly building out its portfolio ever since. While other roll-up players like Thrasio and Win Brands Group have faced major headwinds, Pattern has continued chugging along. Its co-founder and chief business officer Suze Dowling, who joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week, attributes this to the company ..read more

This week: H&M inches toward profitability under its new CEO, with the company planning to focus on cost-cutting and competing for price-conscious fast-fashion customers. Next, we also look at a Bloomberg story analyzing why being picked as Wirecutter's top wok ended up overwhelming the small shop that carries the product. Lastly, Dollar Tree announced plans to raise prices on select items to lure its growing high-income customer base ..read more

Sunday wants to be the DTC brand that powers everyone's backyard. The company first launched in 2019 with lawn care products, but has since expanded to pest control and garden products. While it's available in major retailers like Costco, Walmart, Lowe's and Target, Sunday's business is still 75% direct-to-consumer. "To be the outdoor home platform that we want to be, we really need to be able to be across these categories," founder and CEO Coulter Lewis said on the Modern Retail Podcast. He joined and spoke about how the company has grown over the last five years -- as well as what its plans ..read more

This week’s Modern Retail Rundown includes a check-in on Nordstrom, with news of the founding family allegedly looking to take the department store private. We also delve into Unilever's ice cream division -- which includes the Ben & Jerry's and Magnum brands -- which may be spun off into a separate company. Lastly, we discuss reports of Shein pivoting into supply chain services ..read more

Accessory brand Ridge, best known for its wallets, is getting closer and closer to a $1 billion exit. CEO Sean Frank has been saying this for years but thinks the option may come sooner rather than later. "If I want to sell for $1 billion, you need $100 million in adjusted EBITA, or we need roughly $50 million in net income," he said. "I think next year, we'll probably get to $50 million in net income." Frank joined the Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the company's growth as well as the state of consumer brands. Frank thinks Ridge's trajectory has been different from that of many other d ..read more

Rocco is a DTC mini-fridge company that wants to make people care about the big hunks of steel electronics they have in their homes. "Appliance brands don't actually have a brand," said Alyse Borkan, co-founder of Rocco. "I really saw an opportunity to do things differently than [what] the rest of the category was doing." Borkan joined this week's Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about her new brand and how she's hoping to compete with the big players like Frigidaire. Rocco launched last November with one product: a colorful fridge meant to showcase beverages. It works for both wine bottles and ..read more

This week's Modern Retail Rundown show kicks off with a breakdown of Harry's long road to IPO, with the company reportedly filing to go public years after previous acquisition plans fell through. Meanwhile, furniture retailer Ashley announced it's acquiring Resident Home, a mattress group whose brands include DTC companies Nectar, DreamCloud, Awara and Siena. Abercrombie & Fitch, on the other hand, is projected to bring in $5 billion in annual revenue by growing its young customer base internationally. Get more from Modern Retail with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Vi ..read more