Morning Brew - ☕ Nailed it

Carhartt’s customizable workwear program for loyalty members
Morning Brew August 18, 2022

Retail Brew

Black Crow AI

Good afternoon. Chipotle and Sweetgreen must be shaking in their boots after Papa John’s introduced its new Papa Bowls—all toppings, no crust. Drop a line if you’re brave enough to admit you’d give it a shot.

In today’s edition:

—Katishi Maake, Maeve Allsup

RETAIL

Working out

A stack of Carhartt jeans Carhartt

Carhartt is lacing up its boots.

The 133-year-old workwear brand is scaling up operations with plans to meet its core customers where they are with plans to open new storefronts and allow for more customization within its product selection.

As Alex Guerrero, its SVP and general manager of global product, explained to Retail Brew, the Carhartt customer is typically a blue-collar worker who needs a lot more bells and whistles to get the most out of their purchases.

  • For example, a left-handed carpenter using the offering now has the option to more easily access tools kept on their pants by customizing them with hammer loops.
  • Loyalty members making an online purchase can tailor clothes to a more snug fit, as well as add extra pockets or kick panels.

Innovation is where Carhartt sees much of its future, which is why the company is in the midst of a pilot program for customizable clothing that allows its 600 loyalty members to pick and choose extra features for a handful of products.

Getting down to business: Guerrero, the former VP and general manager of Jockey’s US men’s business, likened Carhartt’s program to “Nike by You,” which allows sneakerheads to design their own custom shoes through Nike’s website.

  • Workwear is a category that has been missing the data-driven level of detail when it comes to offering customizable apparel, Guerrero said.

Read more about Carhartt’s expanding footprint(s).KM

        

TOGETHER WITH BLACK CROW AI

Does your brand leverage the right e-commerce data?

Black Crow AI

Too many DTC advertisers are sitting on a gold mine of first-party data and don’t even know it. Dun, dun, duuun!

Black Crow AI can help you leverage that first-party data to run targeted ad campaigns aimed directly at your most valuable prospects.

By analyzing your first-party data with their custom machine learning, Black Crow AI crafts highly targeted marketing audiences of likely customers for use across allll ad platforms.

On average, Black Crow AI’s partners—such as SKIMS, Leesa, Super Coffee, and more—have seen a 25% increase in ROAS by using custom, BCAI-built audiences.

Nail your marketing profitability targets and your growth #goals. Request a demo and 30-day free trial with Black Crow AI here.

        

CORPORATE STRATEGY

In Blume

Woman-founded Blume makes superfood lattes Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photos: Blume

Startup funding hit record highs last year, with investors injecting $643 billion into companies of all shapes and stages. But women-founded companies received a tiny fraction of that cash—in the US, female entrepreneurs received just 2% of venture capital funding.

  • Women investors are just as scarce—in 2019, fewer than ten of the top 100 global VC partners were women, according to CB Insights.

None of this would come as a shock to Canadian entrepreneur Karen Danudjaja, who closed the first raise for her superfood latte company, Blume, at the end of July, and who, on August 18, launched a salted-caramel blend focused on libido.

“When I set out, I really wanted [Blume’s backers] to actually be 50% women, which was pretty hard to accomplish,” she told Retail Brew. “We ended up at 40% women invested in the round, which I’m very proud of.”

  • Blume, which boasts an all-women team, secured just over $1.5 million from investors like women-focused The51, and SmartSweets backer Judy Brooks.
  • The round will help Blume expand further into retail, Danudjaja said. For that, they needed capital and strategic partners, so they focused on investors who had experience scaling products to US stores.

Founder tips: Danudjaja, who started Blume at her desk while working in commercial real estate, has advice for other women entrepreneurs: Raise on a timeline that makes sense for your brand rather than for the market, and don’t dilute your power.

Here is more of what Danudjaja has learned while building a company and fundraising as an Asian woman.MA

        

TOGETHER WITH SIMON DATA

Simon Data

Retail’s changed a lot these last 2 years. Wanna know what to expect this holiday season? Simon Data’s Consumer Holiday Shopping in 2022 report offers key insights into shopper POVs on cart abandonment, brand loyalty, preferred comms channels, and more. Adapt your strategies for a new retail world—download your copy today.

        

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Workers speak up: McDonald’s employees allege that sexual harassment and retaliation persists, even when incidents are reported to HR. (The Guardian)

Out of the woods? Although activewear brand Outdoor Voices put itself up for sale earlier this summer, company revenue is up, leaving some wondering if its turnaround efforts have paid off. (Business of Fashion)

Welcome back, maybe: Several companies are teeing up this Labor Day as the new threshold for return to work, setting up potential showdowns between employees and employers. (Bloomberg)

Learn: Ever had to convince someone at work that their idea isn’t that great, and yours is way better? Learn the art of influence and persuasion (not a controversial Netflix remake of Jane Austen, we promise) in the Brew’s 8-week Leadership Accelerator. The next cohort begins September 26—apply today!

THE RETAIL DOCTOR

Industry experts

Industry experts

Winter is coming. Are you ready for it?

SalesRX retail training, taught by renowned retail expert Bob Phibbs, is the perfect program to prepare your associates for the coming holiday season. They’ll learn to:

  • Ask the right questions.
  • Connect confidently face-to-face.
  • Engage customers, even in difficult situations.
  • Pack up exquisite dreams, not just merchandise.

Get in touch with SalesRX now to prepare for seasonal success. Invest in your workforce to melt customers’ hearts.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

  • Saks has closed on a new $60 million facility to help sustain its growth.
  • Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based convenience chain, will open a new Missouri location and expand west in 2024.
  • T.J. Maxx lowered its sales forecast and missed its earnings expectations as consumers cut spending on apparel and home goods.
  • CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart must pay $650.5 million to two Ohio counties for contributing to the opioid epidemic, a federal judge ruled.
  • July retail sales were largely flat as consumers leaned into online shopping.

NUMBERS GAME

The numbers you need to know.

A handful of meme-y stocks surged in recent weeks, specifically for embattled companies Bed Bath & Beyond, GameStop, and Revlon. It’s like January 2021 again.

Bed Bath & Beyond shares spiked 22% Wednesday from the day before, a trend set this month. In June, the company let go of CEO Mark Tritton on the heels of sales declining 27% YoY in the latest earnings report.

  • On Tuesday, 395+ million shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were traded, ending the day up almost 300% for the month. The company is still down more than 20% this year.
  • Plus, the stock fell Wednesday after it was revealed in a filing that investor Ryan Cohen plans to sell his entire stake in the company.

And Revlon’s along for the ride: Shares are up 45% from July; Morgan Stanley reportedly bought 400,000+ shares last quarter.

  • Revlon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June.
  • The company’s CFO Victoria Dolan is set to retire at the end of September.
  • The stock is still down 29% YoY.

The stock of the granddaddy of meme-investor fascination, GameStop, is also resurging.

  • GameStop shares increased ~11% on Tuesday. The video game retailer is now up 20% this year after its colossal 700% spike in 2021.

“There’s a big demand for speculation, and it’s back. It may be short-lived, but it’s back,” Tastytrade founder Tom Sosnoff noted on CNBC’s Squawk Box.

READER POLL

Walmart store Sundry Photography/Getty Images

Last week, we asked readers if Walmart should enter the streaming wars, and we received more reader interest in the company holding off on it (355 responses) than moving ahead (226).

Katishi Maake reported with Marketing Brew’s Ryan Barwick about the streaming deal, which would benefit from the company’s growing advertising business. On its own, Walmart+ is still fairly one-dimensional, Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at GlobalData, told us.

SHARE THE BREW

Share Retail Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag.

We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link.

Your referral count: 2

Click to Share

Or copy & paste your referral link to others:
morningbrew.com/retail/r/?kid=303a04a9

 

Written by Katishi Maake and Maeve Allsup

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

WANT MORE BREW?

Industry news, with a sense of humor →

  • CFO Brew: your go-to source for global finance insights
  • Future Social: the Brew's take on the world of social media
  • HR Brew: analysis of the employee-employer relationship
  • IT Brew: moving business forward; innovation analysis for the CTO, CIO & every IT pro in-between

Tips for smarter living →

Podcasts → Business Casual, Founder's Journal, Imposters, and The Money with Katie Show

YouTube

Accelerate Your Career with our Courses →

ADVERTISE // CAREERS // SHOP // FAQ

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here.
View our privacy policy here.

Copyright © 2022 Morning Brew. All rights reserved.
22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011

Older messages

☕ Lather, rinse, rewatch

Thursday, August 18, 2022

The rise of the rewatch podcast. August 18, 2022 Marketing Brew TOGETHER WITH Brainrider Happy Thursday. These days, top marketers need to be jacks-and-jills-of-all-trades. A broad knowledge of the

☕ No FYP

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Elon Musk teases Man U fans... August 18, 2022 View Online | Sign Up | Shop Morning Brew TOGETHER WITH Buick Good morning. We recently lamented the fact that 2022 doesn't have a song of the summer,

☕ Pay day

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Retail's biggest names are offering hourly pay on-demand August 17, 2022 Retail Brew TOGETHER WITH Ordergroove Hello, hello. Happy National Thrift Shop Day. If you can't find time to hit a

☕️ A milestone for the brain

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Plus, self-steering ships. August 17, 2022 Emerging Tech Brew TOGETHER WITH Cytonics Hello there. This may be sacrilegious for us to acknowledge as professional emailers, but we understand that

☕ No kids allowed

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Rules governing children's data collection could get even stricter. August 17, 2022 Marketing Brew TOGETHER WITH mntn Happy Wednesday. Over the weekend, we learned that Mike's Amazing

You Might Also Like

☕️ Floppy-haired fraudster

Friday, March 29, 2024

SBF is sentenced to 25 years... March 29, 2024 View Online | Sign Up | Shop Morning Brew PRESENTED BY Impact.com Good morning. Today marks one year since Evan Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American Wall

AI hallucinates software packages and devs download them – even if potentially poisoned with malware [Fri Mar 29 2024]

Friday, March 29, 2024

Hi The Register Subscriber | Log in The Register {* Daily Headlines *} 29 March 2024 Illustration of someone in a hoodie looking at a bench with a cloud over it AI hallucinates software packages and

What A Day: Clown by law

Friday, March 29, 2024

Trump's lawyers are having another rough one. And the mainstream media could learn a lesson from the legal world about handling corruption. Thursday, March 28, 2024 BY CROOKED MEDIA —Steve Bannon,

🌶️ Is it getting hot in here?

Friday, March 29, 2024

Introducing our theme for April plus fun stuff to read, watch, and click on. March 28, 2024 Open in new tab Did a friend forward this? Subscribe today! April's Theme is SPICY It was chosen by our

What 58 Famous People Smell Like

Friday, March 29, 2024

Here's what you missed on the Strategist. The Strategist Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. What

Trump Would Need New Tactics to Steal the 2024 Election

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Columns and commentary on news, politics, business, and technology from the Intelligencer team. Intelligencer early and often Trump Would Need New Tactics to Steal the 2024 Election Many avenues Trump

Let’s go fast

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Plus: The worst cleaning tool we've ever tried ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Friday Briefing: Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Plus, three video game adventures for the weekend. View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story Ad Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition March 29, 2024 Author Headshot By Justin Porter

Elevate Your Events: Exclusive Discount Inside!

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Explore the future of events at #NWES2024, April 3-4 in Seattle! GeekWire is pleased to present this message to our Pacific NW readers. Explore the future of events at #NWES2024, April 3-4 in Seattle!

Framing a Pitch

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Opening Day Edition ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏