With a national baby-formula shortage putting the spotlight on DTC companies like Bobbie to help struggling caregivers find baby formula, retail partners like Lalo, who carry the brand’s product, are feeling the pressure.

As the baby-care company opened its NYC flagship last November, Lalo curated a selection of products from other brands, including Bobbie, to sell items like skin-care products, diapers, and baby formula. Amid the shortage, Lalo has been selling “a few dozen cases a month,” co-founder Michael Wieder told Retail Brew, now moving through its monthly allotment in two to three weeks.

“If Bobbie [could] allot us more, we would move it,” he said. “There are parents that are certainly on the hunt and looking.”

All hands on deck: About 84% of shoppers in search of baby formula reported difficulty finding it on shelves in the past month, according to a recent Numerator survey.

• Lalo is limiting customers to two $28 cans per transaction, which Wieder said roughly is a one-week supply for one child.
• 25% of customers from the New York City area coming to Lalo’s Noho store are from outside Manhattan.
• Wieder said Lalo is in touch with Bobbie on at least a weekly basis to update them on the velocity of sales and the opportunity to sell more through their store.

Here’s how Lalo plans to meet the need for having a diverse product selection for customers.—KM

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After graduating from the Naval Academy, Al Sambar was a pilot in the Navy, flying primarily throughout the Western Pacific. “It was very exciting as a 22-year-old to be given the proverbial ‘keys’ to a plane and told to go fly every day,” he told us.

But even after he left at the rank of lieutenant more than seven years later, he still kept getting things off the ground.

Sambar is general partner at XRC Labs, a VC firm with a retail technology and CPG focus, where he helps manage Series A and other funding rounds for tech startups. Before that, he worked for 26+ years at Kurt Salmon, part of Accenture Strategy, where he focused on retail digital strategy. He also told us he personally has been an angel investor in about a dozen startups, including Recurate, a startup that builds and manages resale programs for retailers.

When he’s not helping shape companies, Sambar, who lives in Carmel, California, spends a lot of time in the even more delicate pursuit of shaping glass. About 15 years ago, he fell in love with glassblowing, and today he and his son own a glassblowing studio, Monterey GlassWorks, in Sand City, California.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? Pretty simple really—we look for retail tech and consumer brand startups trying to change the world for the better, invest in them, then support them to help them grow.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: I own a glassblowing studio in Monterey, California, where we fund residencies for emerging artists from all over the world. This year, we have artists traveling in from as far away as New Zealand and Poland.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? Well, I find all of our metaverse, NFT, and Web3-related startups intellectually fascinating. Hard not to. But the trend I root for most is circularity and conscious consumerism. This isn’t a new or flashy one, but one that, like a swell, continues to grow slowly year after year as climate change becomes less ignorable.

What’s the worst piece of business advice you’ve received? “You’ll never be successful if you don’t fix your disorganization and lack of attention to detail.” I heard that my whole life on nearly every performance review I’ve ever received. The book StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath was a true gift to me when it came out, because it gave me explicit permission to do what I’ve always done—to stop hand-wringing about my weaknesses and continue to find joy in my strengths.

Hands down, the best fast food restaurant chain is…Chipotle. I’m mostly a veggie eater and can’t get enough of that sofrita with extra hot sauce!

Today’s top retail reads.

Tapping in: With the likes of Gucci and Tiffany’s investing in Vietnam, the luxury market in the country is heating up and is likely to continue to grow. (Business of Fashion)

Taking stock: As inflationary concerns drive away some consumers, grocers are increasingly challenging food companies on rising costs. “We do what everyone else does. We shout and rattle our desks,” said Jonathan Weis, CEO of Weis Markets. (The Wall Street Journal)

New territories: From a tea brand focused on growers in former global conflict zones to a spice company that links Afghan spice farmers to the world, several veterans have set up businesses in regions they were deployed to. (The New York Times)

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