Since its inception in 2010, Oak + Fort, the Vancouver-based modern lifestyle brand has relied on word of mouth and savvy social media marketing. Its main selling point that has helped the company survive at a time when many other fast fashion retailers are struggling has been pushing its “attainable luxury.”

Now as the brand has grown to several physical locations in North America, it continues to find ways to keep up with the competition while trying to engage its Gen Z and millennial consumers across a range of marketing and social media platforms.

“As we’re expanding our brick and mortar—which is such a great avenue for us to utilize our stores as just marketing efforts—we’re also looking at a full funnel marketing approach which really consumes a mix of owned, earned, and paid strategies,” Melorin Pouladian, Oak + Fort’s SVP of operations, told Retail Brew, adding that word of mouth has been a pretty savvy strategy for the brand so far. Social media has been another winner for the brand.

Keep reading here.—JS

If you’re a fan of simplifying, streamlining, and de-stressing, we think you’ll like this one.

PayPal Braintree is the payments platform that does way more than process payments. And right now, they’re offering solar-powered phone chargers to the first 240 people who take a meeting with a payments expert.

Want some more deets before you book? PayPal Braintree can help you:

• increase revenue, streamline ops, and manage security
• create data-driven, seamless customer experiences to grow your business across channels with a single, extensible vault
• cut down on operating costs + help your biz stay agile by simplifying your commerce ecosystem

Schedule your meeting today to get your solar-powered phone charger.

This Thanksgiving, consumers will continue to fill their shopping baskets with standard feast fare like turkey and pies, but as prices remain elevated, they’re keeping an eye out for deals.

Whether they’re making it all homemade or buying heat-and-eat, 90% of Thanksgiving meals are purchased from retail and made at home, according to data from consumer research company Circana’s Thanksgiving Tracker. The holiday is “the second-largest food holiday of the year” behind Christmas, and last year, shoppers spent $2.8 billion more on food for Thanksgiving dinner than during an average week, per Circana.

• According to consumer insights company Numerator’s Holiday Preview, US shoppers will spend between $100 and $200 on Thanksgiving. Three-quarters will shop at grocery stores, 37% at mass retailers, and 29% at club or wholesale stores.

Keep reading here.—EC

Figs, the DTC apparel brand for healthcare professionals, last week opened its first brick-and-mortar location at the Century City Mall in Los Angeles, on the heels of a strong third quarter for the company.

It joins a growing number of DTC brands that are expanding their physical footprint, and while some are relying more on wholesale partners to get this done, others are opening their own retail outlets.

Keep reading here.—AV