Resilient Retail

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Cooking up community: An Ethiopian restaurant embraces innovation while honoring a decades-old past May 06, 2021

Show notes

Founded in 1988, Rosalind’s Ethiopian Restaurant is practically a landmark. In fact, it helped inspire the formal creation of LA’s Little Ethiopia. Pre-pandemic, Rosalind’s had served as a communal hub thanks to Meklit’s personable and well-connected father. But COVID put them into a tailspin, with a daunting menu and food that didn’t easily lend itself to takeout.

Meklit, an art director who had experience working with startups, decided to experiment with the menu. Working with her father, she injected some new life into both the copy on the menu and the dishes themselves. Soon, customers were lining up asking for the new specials, and John Legend and Chrissy Teigen even gave the restaurant a resounding seal of approval. But change is a balancing act, and Meklit was careful to walk the line between innovative fusion and authentic traditions.

Check out Rosalind’s Ethiopian Cuisine

Follow Rosalind’s on Facebook or Instagram

Connect with Meklit Gebre-Mariam on LinkedIn or Instagram

Real Life Retail: Leah Eyles of Scout May 05, 2021

Show notes

Join Steph LaPosta each week for Real Life Retail. A weekly segment with honest, candid conversations with retailers. In this episode, Leah Eyles of Scout shares her ideas behind creating Scout, the launch of a second location, how she transitioned to online shopping due to COVID, all the hardships of having a small business in the midst of a global pandemic, and she finds strength in all the challenges.

It takes a village: The Atlanta-based market that’s enabling a new generation of Black power May 04, 2021

Show notes

When Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon founded The Village Market ATL in 2016, she was a former educator who felt inspired to help local Black entrepreneurs make their mark on the world. What started as a support system to facilitate businesses in her home base of Atlanta to connect with customers soon turned into something bigger. Today, the organization has helped funnel over $5.3 million dollars to Black-owned businesses across the nation and beyond. During the pandemic, the organization even opened its first retail location in the form of a special co-op called The Village Retail. Dr. Key’s philosophy is simple: when you buy local and through sources like The Village, everybody wins.

Check out The Village Market ATL
Follow The Village Market ATL on Instagram
Connect with Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon on LinkedIn or Instagram

Resilient News: Food on a Mission with Kat Cole Apr 30, 2021

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Every Friday, join Kristen and a co-host to cover the hottest industry news and trends of the week. Kat Cole is back this week to talk about all things food, from the evolution of food brands, food retailers missions, the healthiest leading brands, and all their favorites!

From culture shock to cutting-edge: How Raw Apothecary is spicing up Mexican DTC Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

Mexico is the birthplace of many wonderful things, but eCommerce isn’t one of them. In a country where online purchases are a source of distrust and skepticism, Macarena Riva and Andrea Sanchez are turning the tide. The two best friends started Raw Apothecary, a natural beauty brand that speaks to women of all ages with minimalist packaging and clean ingredients.

But it wasn’t a fancy website that sealed their first sales. Instead it was the personal attention of the brands two passionate founders. The women’s journey started by tapping into Mexico’s thriving bazaar marketplace culture. After forming an in-person relationship with customers, they took the brand online with the conviction that Latin America’s online ecosystem would soon catch up to the rest of the world.

Check out Raw Apothecary
Follow Raw Apothecary on Facebook or Instagram
Connect with Macarena Riva on LinkedIn
Connect with Andrea Sanchez LinkedIn

Real Life Retail: Ashley from Honey's Ice Cream + Tyger Tyger Apr 28, 2021

Show notes

Join Steph LaPosta each week for Real Life Retail. A weekly segment with honest, candid conversations with retailers. In this episode, Ashley Wittig of Honey’s Ice Cream and Tyger Tyger, shares her experience creating delicious, plant-based ice cream for Honey’s Ice Cream and her passion project, Tyger Tyger promoting great, plant-based, holistic options for everyone.

Igloo has built brand loyalty that spans generations. Now, they’re cooler than ever. Apr 27, 2021

Show notes

Trendy new brands are certainly exciting. But some brands have been around for decades, and they give us a distinctive fuzzy feeling inside. Igloo coolers is one of those brands. Founded in the 1940’s, Igloo may give us that warm nostalgic glow - but they’re all about keeping things cool. Brian Garofalow is the Chief Marketing Officer at Igloo. An experienced ecommerce marketer, Brian’s focus with Igloo is less about building brand awareness (about 90% of households already know the Igloo name) and more about dialing in how Igloo’s many sales channels can play nicely together. Listen in to hear how Igloo is pursuing a new DTC approach, and how innovative designs and partnerships are keeping things fresh.

Check out Igloo
Explore Igloo’s Playmate anniversary video
Follow Brian Garofalow or LinkedIn or Twitter

Resilient News: Pause and Reflect. Amazon's venture into salons, embracing entrepreneurs, and size inclusivity with Halie LeSavage Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

Every Friday, join Kristen and a co-host to cover the hottest industry news and trends of the week. This week, Kristen takes a few minutes to reflect on the last year of the world's most important news, and Halie LeSavage is back to talk Amazon’s first hair salon opening in the UK, the passion behind retail workers and the future, and the new expansion of comfort and inclusivity in women's intimates.

Three brands at a time: Shane Vitaly Foran on marketing to consumer archetypes Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

What do you get when a rock and roll backpacker and pilot-slash-poker-player start a jewelry business? The results are out-of-this-world unique. Shane Vitaly Foran is the founder and CEO of Compound Studio, a company that has dreamed up three incredible brands. With their focus on jewelry and accessories that cater to specific consumer archetypes, Shane and team have successfully spun up brands in different universes.

Bootstrapped from day one, the company took their flagship line Vitaly through a journey of apparel pop ups and wholesale before settling on a more scoped jewelry collection that you won’t find anywhere else. Listen in to hear Shane share how the team ignores industry traditions in favor of customer trends, why they discontinued Vitaly’s popular clothing line, and how he would teach a course on Marketing 101.

Check out Compound Studio
Explore Vitaly, Clocks and Colours, and Etah Love
Follow Vitaly on Facebook and Instagram
Follow Shane Vitaly Foran on LinkedIn and Twitter

Real Life Retail: Bryce Taylor-Vaisey from Penny Candy Jam and AM Bagel Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

Join Steph LaPosta each week for Real Life Retail. A weekly segment with honest, candid conversations with retailers. In this episode, Bryce Taylor-Vaisey, from Penny Candy Jam and AM Bagel, talks about the creation of his businesses, his experiences with selling at flea markets, and how he stays focused on the business dream.

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