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The Modern Retail Podcast

Digiday

The Modern Retail Podcast is a podcast about all the ways the retail industry is changing and modernizing. Every Saturday, senior reporters Gabi Barkho and Melissa Daniels break down the latest retail headlines and interview executives about what it takes to keep up in today’s retail landscape, diving deep into growth strategies, brand autopsies, economic changes and more

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24 episodes
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Avg 34 min
English

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Saturday · 32 min
Where Boll & Branch draws the line on AI-generated advertising
These days, it is borderline expected that brands will use artificial intelligence in at least some capacity as part of their marketing. But they also have to tread carefully; otherwise, consumers may slam them with “AI slop” allegations. As a result, more companies are creating playbooks for how they approach these tools in consumer-facing campaigns. Some, like Coca-Cola, have doubled down on using AI-generated ads despite initial backlash. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s REI, which pulled an AI-generated Facebook ad after consumer backlash, saying the use of AI does not align with the company’s sustainability mission. This episode takes a behind-the-scenes look at one brand’s approach to using generative AI in its marketing creatives. Boll & Branch, known for its premium bedding, bath and home essentials, largely sells through its DTC website and stores. The brand has been gradually using AI tools to create imagery and campaign copy for its marketing channels. This week, Kristen Deyko, chief creative officer of Boll & Branch and the person leading the brand’s use of AI tools for marketing, joins the Modern Retail Podcast to discuss the playbook. This week’s podcast episode digs into: How Boll & Branch created playbook pillars for integrating generative AI content in campaign images and copy. The company’s stance on when it does and does not make sense to use AI-generated creative. The dos and don’ts of using these tools to speed up the creative process.
September 5 · 32 min
Why fragrance is the new key to commanding a premium price tag
Fragrance continues to dominate the beauty sector in 2026, but it's increasingly showing up as a differentiator in other sectors like personal care and household essentials. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels speaks with Diana Melencio, general partner at XRC Brand Capital Fund, about the ways companies are using fragrance to set themselves apart. “On the shelves of Target and Walmart in the traditional laundry and household cleaning aisles, you're going to start seeing more premium products that have that differentiated scent architecture," Melencio said. Melencio, who is actively looking to invest in the space, has looked at the growth of fragrance and highlights how companies like genderless fragrance company DedCool and sanitizer brand Touchland are commanding elevated prices and prime retail spots in places like Sephora. At the same time, legacy companies like Unilever are ramping up their fragrance opportunities while trying to ensure that they're not alienating price-conscious consumers. XRC's research shows that fragrance grew 15% in mass and 5% in prestige in 2025, which outpaces every other beauty segment. Melencio and Daniels discuss the ins and outs of why fragrance has become so popular and how brands across categories are looking to capitalize on the trend. Their conversation gets into: Why price-conscious consumers are willing to pay a premium for elevated fragrances The challenges that conglomerates have in innovating around scent-based products compared to startups What some of the trendiest scents are in 2026 and how perfumers suss out what's the next big hit
August 29 · 32 min
The new life cycle of a brand ‘cancellation’
In an era where a brand's reputation is tethered to the relentless cycles of social media, silence is no longer a defensive strategy for brands and can even become a liability. In this episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, senior reporter Gabi Barkho is joined by crisis PR consultant Sam Gauchier to break down why the old-school public relations tactic of trying to sweep a major scandal under the rug is increasingly failing major brands. The latest example came this week, when Target quickly scrambled to do damage control after one of its children’s Halloween costumes was called out for its depiction of blackface. Neutrogena is also facing backlash in the wake of former ambassador Hayden Panettiere’s death, with many scrutinizing the brand’s 2015 decision to sever ties with Panettiere after she discussed her postpartum depression experience. The criticism continued even after Neutrogena issued an apology. This week's podcast episode digs into: Whether "canceling" a brand is actually possible today. Why there is more pressure on brands to address consumer criticism head on. Whether boycotts can hurt businesses in the long run.
August 22 · 35 min
The big business of dorm decor
This year, back-to-college spending is estimated to cross $100 billion for the first time, according to data from the National Retail Federation. About $14 billion of that, or about $194 per shopper, is in dorm and apartment furnishings. It’s the second-highest category after electronics, and some data suggests it's growing: Research from CTV ad platform MNTN last year shows that advertisers in dorm-adjacent categories saw average revenue grow 73.65 year over year during the peak purchase window in July. One of the companies at the center of these trends is Urban Outfitters, which has made a concerted effort to grow its furnishings business in recent years. The company's head of merchandising for non-apparel, Karen Booker, joined special projects editor Melissa Daniels on the Modern Retail Podcast this week to dive into how the company has evolved in this space.
August 15 · 30 min
The pros and cons of taking on private equity
For many founder-led brands, the transition from a scrappy, bootstrapped startup to a major retail player is the ultimate test of sustainable growth. For some, that means taking on more debt or venture capital; for others, it means bringing on private equity investors to shoulder the costs. This week, senior reporter Gabi Barkho is joined by Andrea Faulkner Williams, co-founder and president of baby care brand Tubby Todd, to discuss her strategic decisions behind that evolution. After launching in 2014 and spending years building the brand through a DTC community-driven approach, Tubby Todd sold a majority stake to private equity firm NexPhase Capital in 2022. Since then, the co-founders have remained in leadership roles and continue to grow the brand in retail, with a Target launch earlier this year. This episode of the Modern Retail Podcast pulls back the curtain on why Tubby Todd’s founders chose that specific path, how the infusion of capital has fundamentally altered their operational strategy and how the partnership helped scale from DTC to mass retail. In this episode, Williams discusses: Her personal relationship with private equity capital and how it shaped Tubby Todd’s growth trajectory. How founders can weigh the pros and cons of working with private equity firms. What the NexPhase Capital investment means for Tubby Todd’s retail strategy in the coming years.
August 8 · 33 min
How Once Upon a Farm is shaking up the baby aisle with coolers
Once Upon a Farm is on a growth trajectory that is powered in large part by a new look in the baby aisle. The brand, founded in 2015, offers organic, cold-pressed baby food and children's snacks. It went public in February after spending the past several years building up a unique wholesale strategy that places branded coolers in baby food aisles. The company ended 2025 with more than 3,400 coolers in grocery stores across the U.S. and is looking to surpass more than 5,000 by the end of 2026. Overall, the company saw net sales hit $85.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 42.3% from the prior year, according to its second-quarter earnings released Friday. But the cooler strategy is a major part of the growth story, per chief marketing officer Katie Marston. She joined special projects editor Melissa Daniels on the Modern Retail Podcast this week to discuss the strategy and how the brand convinced retailers like Target, Walmart and Kroger to place branded coolers in their baby aisles. The result is a way for Once Upon a Farm to shake up a category long dominated by shelf-stable products. “If we are going to create systemic change in children's nutrition, if we are going to shape the future of food, you have to place big bets, and you have to stick with them," Marston said.
August 1 · 33 min
The cyclospora outbreak is creating a PR headache for food businesses
Many Americans have spent the last few weeks contemplating whether to eat fresh produce, due to concerning headlines about the ongoing cyclospora outbreak. The parasite is creating a wave of confusion for shoppers, retailers and food service businesses. The outbreak has food service chains like Sweetgreen and Taco Bell scrambling to assure customers their produce supply is safe. But the question remains: How much responsibility do companies actually have to communicate these health concerns? This week, the Modern Retail Podcast is diving into the new rules of retail safety, the PR challenges caused by food outbreaks and the difficulty of rebuilding consumer trust in the long run. To discuss the cyclospora outbreak, senior reporter Gabi Barkho is joined by Helena Bottemiller Evich, the founder and editor-in-chief of Food Fix, a new online publication about food policy in Washington and beyond. This episode gets into: What makes this foodborne outbreak historically unique and difficult to trace. Dos and don’ts: How companies can gain customer trust by communicating potential product contamination. What food brands can learn from the outbreak.
July 25 · 31 min
Best Buy’s bet on Meta Ray Bans and shop-in-shops
As an official sales partner for Ray-Ban Meta glasses, Best Buy is rethinking what it means to deliver experiential retail in the age of AI. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels sat down with Best Buy's executive vice president and chief revenue officer, Patrick McGinnis, to go behind the scenes into the development of the new 30-by-30-foot Meta AI shop-in-shops rolling out in select stores. It’s the latest example of how Best Buy is looking to position itself as a destination for cutting-edge technology — and it's also a case study into how legacy retailers can rethink the store experience for new audiences. Best Buy plans to have 50 stores selling the new Ray-Ban Meta frames by the end of the year, with the hopes of increasing that to as many as 200 or more by the end of next year, McGinnis said. The company knows there's demand for people to check out the specs in person; its own survey data shows that more than 50% of Best Buy customers say they want to see the Meta glasses in person before making a purchase. And since the retailer first launched smaller displays in 100 stores last October, more than 175,000 customers have completed a demo in a Best Buy store. But beyond creating a destination for people to try out cutting-edge tech in person, the shop-in-shop provided an opportunity for Best Buy to revamp its store layout, McGinnis said. It aims to have more flexible space for experiential retail, including for more AI-powered products, on the horizon.
July 18 · 27 min
How Bloom Nutrition is expanding internationally
For many U.S. retail startups, expanding international distribution is the ultimate goal to establish themselves as a truly global brand. In the era of digital storefronts and globalized social media presence, selling a product in foreign countries could pay off exponentially. But betting on this global growth means navigating all the friction that cross-border retail can bring. Bloom Nutrition, which has been growing its energy drink line over the past year, is launching in multiple foreign markets that include Australia, France and the U.K. Joel Contartese, the vp of global growth at Bloom Nutrition, joins the Modern Retail Podcast to discuss the advantages and challenges of distributing beverages in other countries. In this interview, he discusses: Why the beverage startup is betting on international consumers for longterm growth. Navigating ingredient regulations in the European Union and South America, which differ greatly from the U.S. Learning to tweak branding and flavors to localize for each international market.
July 11 · 39 min
Inside AG1’s product expansion playbook (RERUN)
Nutrition and supplement company AG1 famously built a $600 million business off of a single SKU. Then, in 2025, the brand made major leaps by introducing new flavors and a sleep supplement. CEO Kat Cole speaks with Modern Retail’s Melissa Daniels about how the brand grew its next generation of products from its own scientific research, and how it’s looking to scale through retail beyond its DTC roots.
July 4 · 35 min
P.F. Candle Co.’s Made in America strategy (RERUN)
In honor of July 4, this week the Modern Retail Podcast is revisiting an episode featuring P.F. Candle Company, which produces its candles in Los Angeles. Co-hosts Gabi Barkho and Melissa Daniels talked to founders Kristen Pumphrey and Thomas Neuberger about the advantages of and challenges of making products in the United States. Last year, the made-in-America debate was heavily tied to importing tariffs. But interest in American-made products is still high, as the founders highlight in the conversation on domestic production.
June 27 · 32 min
Listener mailbag: How AI and Substack are changing affiliate marketing
Few areas of digital marketing have exploded in recent years as much as affiliate marketing. What's more, it's actually proving effective: eMarketer in September said that affiliate marketing would drive more than $210 billion in US e-commerce sales that year. By 2028, that figure is expected to hit over $287 billion. But with that growth comes a myriad of questions about implementation and how brands can actually get results. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, co-hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels answer listener questions around affiliate best practices and how it's changing amid changes in shopper behavior and media consumption. The conversation gets into: How to ensure authenticity in partners How AI is reshaping affiliate marketing The role of Substack and new media channels Balancing workload across channels
June 20 · 40 min
Is Prime Day still worth it?
Amazon Prime Day isn't as essential as it once was. But for some brands, it can still provide a meaningful sales boost. On this week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels spoke with Katherine McKee, the fractional head of growth at Morphology Consulting, to break down the pros and cons of participating in the four-day sales event that is scheduled for June 23 through June 26. The two discuss: How Prime Day is resonating in 2026. The margin math of Prime Day. How brands can calculate their specific cost of participation and what gains they may be able to reap.
June 13 · 38 min
Why the World Cup is a make or break moment for retail this summer
On this week's Modern Retail Podcast, senior reporter Gabriela Barkho is joined by executive editor Anna Hensel to talk all things World Cup marketing. This week, Modern Retail ran an editorial series on how retailers and brands of all sizes are taking advantage of the biggest-ever FIFA World Cup this summer. Malls are turning into hubs for fans, while retail media networks are looking at this as a critical moment to win over more advertiser dollars. As Hensel explains, this highly anticipated World Cup comes at a precarious moment for the industry, as retailers continue to worry that rising gas prices will lead consumers to cut back spending. The World Cup, then, will be a critical test for how resilient consumers actually are. Later on in the episode, Alyssa Grigg, senior director of marketing and communications for Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington, joins the show to discuss how its Seattle store plans to capitalize on matches happening on its home turf. Seattle is hosting six World Cup matches, and the stadium happens to be minutes from the largest Goodwill in the world. So the thrifting nonprofit is hosting several activations and events throughout the tournament to drive tourist and fan traffic. In this interview, Grigg speaks to: How thrifting has become a major tourism activity. Creating buzz through live, local-artist screen printing and vintage soccer merchandise. Turning the 70,000-square-foot Goodwill store into a "treasure hunt" destination, with help from local influencers and social media campaigns.
June 6 · 39 min
The next era of Pride Month marketing
Pride Month is underway, marking a season of celebration that's become a mainstay for some brands. But earning the trust of LGBTQ+ audiences goes far beyond rainbow merch or a few social media posts. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels interviewed LGBTQ+ marketing specialists Matt Tumminello and Matt Wagner of Target10. Their conversation centers on earning trust with LGBTQ customers long before it's time for a Pride collection, starting with the ways companies used to show up and how that's changed over the years. The conversation gets into: How "Pride marketing" is in its third act as cultural winds change How earning trust with LGBTQ+ consumers takes more than a one-time campaign Winning strategies that start with authentic moments and messages
May 30 · 38 min
Pacsun's CEO on how the brand cracked its Gen Z strategy
Young consumers have always been a sought-after demographic for retailers — but what they value is always changing. Over the past several decades, Pacsun has sought to maintain a strong pulse on the evolving tastes of teenagers. From viral jeans to strategic partnerships with creators, the mall-based retailer is once again winning over young people. For the first time in 18 years, the company is opening more new stores than it is closing. Pacsun's digital strategy is heavily weighted toward customers’ personal interests and influences. The brand says it remains relevant through four key pillars: fashion, music, sport and art. And so in 2025, the company began releasing an annual Youth Report and announced its Youth Advisory Council. The two programs are an example of Pacsun leaning into customer participation and what it calls “consumers as co-creators.” On this week’s Modern Retail Podcast, senior reporter Gabriela Barkho is joined by Pacsun CEO Brie Olson, who recently released a new book called “Co-Created: The Cultural Strategy That Redefined Pacsun.” In this interview, Olson discusses: The brand’s early bet on TikTok Shop. Pacsun’s new Youth Advisory Council and Youth Report. The brand's latest investment in a new mobile app as a hub for product drops and rewards.
May 23 · 32 min
Hits and misses from Q1 earnings season
Late May saw a slew of first-quarter earnings reports that reflected meaningful growth for companies like Target and Walmart, but also revealed some bigger shifts in consumer behavior and operational costs. While shoppers dealing with higher fuel costs are pulling back in some areas, like DIY home projects, they're also showing up to treat themselves for limited-edition collabs or deals at off-price retailers. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels is joined by reporter Mitchell Parton to unpack some of the biggest hits and misses of earnings season, from Target's comeback to the threat of rising fuel prices.
May 16 · 40 min
Why every brand is now their own media company, featuring Prince Street Pizza
In the era of the viral vertical video, there is a seemingly endless appetite for new content. And brands are getting in on original content trying by creating their own series for social media. In January, Gap Inc announced it was creating a new role, a chief entertainment officer, where Pam Kaufman will lead their “fashion-tainment” strategy. This year, David’s Bridal launched “Breaking Bridal,” a series documenting nontraditional weddings. And since September, New York-based Prince Street Pizza has been putting out episodes of “Delivering Happiness,” a YouTube series starring actor Nick Turturro. Lawrence Longo, the CEO of Prince Street Pizza and Irv’s Burgers, is the brainchild behind “Delivering Happiness,” having gotten his start as a film producer before getting into the restaurant industry. Prince Street Pizza is in the middle of expanding nationwide – new locations are opening soon in Nashville and Charleston – and the show is part of the company’s brand awareness strategy. This week, Longo joins senior reporter Gabriela Barkho and special projects editor Melissa Daniels on the Modern Retail Podcast. Longo breaks down his approach to storytelling and why he’s bullish on original content fueling Prince Street’s growth. "I think every brand is their own media company," Longo said. This episode gets into: The time and investment needed to create consistently viral moments. The logistics behind pulling off a project like “Delivering Happeniness." Why brands should not expect authentic content to drive instant sales.
May 9 · 32 min
The tradeoff economy: Why stressed shoppers are still spending
For this week's Modern Retail Podcast, co-hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels were joined by Katie Thomas from the Kearney Consumer Institute to discuss how shoppers' financial stress is showing up in their shopping habits. KCI recently released its latest Consumer Stress Index, which monitors 24,000 consumers across 12 countries. It looks not only at consumers' financial picture but also at their stress related to geopolitics and government, innovation and technology, food and the environment, and health and education. What's different this year is that it's not just one factor causing consumers to feel stressed. It's the compounding effect of inflation, geopolitical instability and overall uncertainties. "Put these two analyses together — historic stress levels and a population that feels starved of joy — and you get a consumer landscape that continues to defy the standard recessionary playbook," the report said.
May 2 · 33 min
How TikTok Shop is winning over major brands
On this week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, co-hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels are joined by Modern Retail's platforms reporter Allison Smith to dig into why TikTok Shop is becoming a more legitimate sales channel in the eyes of bigger brands. Less than three years old, TikTok Shop now makes up roughly 20% of all social commerce sales, according to data from eMarketer. The rest of the category is dominated by Meta. Last year, the company drove $500 million in sales during the four-day stretch from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. In response, more established legacy brands and mid-sized companies are popping up on TikTok Shop. Smith reported this March that sales from big-name brands — those with at least $30 million in annual revenue — increased 97% year-over-year on TikTok Shop. The conversation discusses: How affiliates and discounts are powering acquisition. What it's like operating on TikTok Shop as a big corporation versus a smaller startup. What it takes to succeed on TikTok Shop.

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