Just because the capital markets are cruel these days, that doesn’t mean you can’t be kind…or, maybe, be like KIND.

Today, Daniel Lubetzky, founder of KIND, is debuting Camino Partners, an investment platform using Lubetzky’s and other former KIND staff’s experience in scaling the snack giant to a billion-dollar business to help a fresh batch of entrepreneurs find success.

“Over the years of building KIND through every stage of its growth, our team has amassed tons of experience building a formidable culture, beloved brand, and highly successful business by focusing not just on where we are going, but also how we are getting there,” Lubetzky, who serves as Camino’s chairman, told Retail Brew.

The platform is led by managing director Elle Lanning, who served as EVP of corporate development and chief of staff over her decade at KIND. She told us she joined the brand right as Lubetzky was taking his first outside capital—just $5 million—for the company and all the way through its sale to Mars in 2020 for a reported $5 billion in 2020.

“What we saw more than anything is that there cannot be predetermined kind of outcomes, timeframes, ways of scaling a business,” Lanning said.

Following the sale, various KIND execs wanted to bring their “really in-the-trenches experience to bear,” Lanning said. This started through Equilibra Ventures, Lubetzky’s family office investment group, which is now being rebranded as Camino to double down on its belief that there’s “no one playbook” a consumer brand should follow.

“This is your camino, and we’re going to help construct it in a way where there’s hopefully better outcomes for all parties involved,” Lanning said.

Keep reading here.—EC

Last week, we looked at how the California law banning sales of new fur products is impacting retailers, and pushing them to invest in fur alternatives.

Naturally, several retailers including LVMH and Fendi, have already started experimenting with faux fur. End of story, right? Well, not quite, because there are those who are not accepting defeat just yet.

Take the Natural Fibers Alliance, a coalition of supporters of natural materials in fashion, which includes fur, which is also vehemently trying to overturn the law. “The legality of these types of restrictions under the US Constitution is now before the US Supreme Court,” Mike Brown, the head of sustainability and public affairs at the Natural Fibers Alliance, told WWD, referring to California restricting pork sales, which is being challenged in the court. “We are hopeful that the court confirms the illegality of these types of restrictions, which would have a direct impact on our ability to overturn the [fur] prohibition.” (Note: Brown is also the Americas CEO of the International Fur Federation.)

Meanwhile, some retailers are also talking about the negative impact of the ban on their bottom line. In a recent interview, Andy Nicolaou, VP and director of services for California-based Maximilian Furs, told WWD, that the fur ban has “totally killed our business,” adding that it wasn’t fair to the women who had been purchasing fur from the retailer for years.

While the pressure is on, with similar laws already in the works in places like New York, experts Retail Brew spoke with say it is unlikely that the law will be overturned.

Keep reading here.—JS

“In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, retail media networks are all the rage: Companies from Walmart to Dollar General to 7-Eleven to Marriott all have one. But they’re still pretty much walled gardens, which can make it difficult for advertisers to compare and predict where their next dollar should go, a game of apples to oranges—or, in this case, more like Walmarts to Targets,” writes Marketing Brew’s Ryan Barwick:

Horizon is looking to address that with the help of an AI platform that it says can predict quarterly ROI based on an analysis of past sales figures, campaign performance data reported by retailers, and historical marketing mix modeling ROI data.

Read the whole story here on Marketing Brew.

Today’s top retail reads.

Reality check: Still confused about augmented and virtual reality? Here’s exactly how Apple’s much-anticipated mixed-reality headset, due out later this year, will work. Apple retail outlets will reportedly implement a “store within a store” model for demonstrations and tests. (Bloomberg)

Shipping out: UPS is negotiating a new contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 350,000 UPS employees nationwide. However, “a strike might come Aug. 1 if the two sides can’t come to an agreement.” (Seattle Times)

Megamerger: Albertsons and Kroger are facing an uphill public sentiment battle over their merger, as skeptics point to major payouts for investors, decreased competition in the already inflation-ridden world of grocery prices, and the potential of store closures around the country. (the New York Times)

What happened in the world of retail this week in…1922 and beyond? Retail Brew takes you way, way, way back.

• On January 23, 1957, the Wham-O toy company sold the first Frisbee, designed by  Walter Frederick Morrison.
• On January 24, 1922, two Iowans (one of whom was Russell Stover, founder and namesake of the family-favorite chocolate brand) patented the ice cream delight known today as “Edy’s Pie.”
• On January 24, 1984, the first Apple Macintosh computer went on sale.
• On January 26, 1932, Willian Wrigley Jr., chewing-gum tycoon and namesake of the famous Chicago landmark(s), died.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• What this year’s new Farm Bill means for retail
• Rethinking Roblox
• An organized retail crime primer—and a call to action