Modern Retail Rundown: Getir acquires Fresh Direct, TikTok shuts down Creator Fund, Amazon & Meta partner on in-app ads

11/11/23 • 24 min

1 Listener

This week on the Modern Retail Rundown: Rapid delivery app Getir acquired New York-based Fresh Direct to expand its grocery delivery business. Meanwhile, TikTok has officially shut down its infamous Creator Fund, which is being replaced by the Creativity Program. And, Amazon reportedly struck a deal with Meta to integrate in-app shopping features on Facebook and Instagram.

Previous Episode

'We wanted to build a brand that was based on a collective perspective': R+Co president Dan Langer on growing a luxury haircare brand

R+Co has established itself as one of the premier players in salon haircare -- and over the years it's been slowly expanding. At the same time, the brand takes great pains to stay true to its roots -- and won't be straying far from its salon partners.

For example, the brand, which is owned by Luxury Brand Partners, recently launched a hair color line. According to R+Co president Dan Langer, this latest foray was due to feedback from its community of hair stylists and professionals.

"We want to build [the color business] out with the same philosophy of our heritage line, R+Co, which was involving a collective so that every shade of the line could be best in class," Langer said. "We're always in dialogue and conversations with different hairdressers, mainly because they're our friends -- and they're part of our own communities."

Langer joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the brand's journey. It first began 10 years ago; "we wanted to build a brand that was based on a collective perspective," Langer said.

So he brought together a group of experts -- the top haircare professionals in the industry -- to form the original line. From there, R+Co has grown mainly via its salon business. That remains the company's primary business model.

But over the years, R+Co has expanded into new areas. Beyond the new color brand, it launched a premium haircare line focused on sustainability called R+Co Bleu. Langer described it as the company's "couture collection... really focused on sustainability, performance, and design."

With all of these new sub-brands, however, Langer said the core remains the same. R+Co uses its collective of experts to make sure the products are quality -- and then taps them and their networks to get the word out.

At the end of the day, it's the salons that remain the biggest evangelists for a brand like R+Co. That business-to-business channel, Langer said, "is a huge part of our marketing."

Next Episode

How Literie built a candle business on specificity and brand partnerships

Not all candles need to smell like a vague pastoral landscape intended to bring up abstract emotions -- some just smell like roasted nuts.

That's the idea behind Literie, a candle company behind very specific scents. Its first batch of candles were intended to encapsulate New York City. They included one that smells like the hot roasted nut carts littering Manhattan's streetscape and another that tries to capture the aromas of bodega coffee.

"This brand is more about the names of the scents," said founder and CEO Erica Werber. "It's not a fragrance company where you're trying to develop these notes and become the signature scent of someone's home. It really is about what is this scent or what is this name bringing into my life?"

Werber joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the company's growth. It first launched in 2021 with its five New York-centric scents, and has expanded into other areas like a New England candle that mimics the sea breeze and saltwater. Literie has also built a successful partnership engine, with high-profile collaborations with The Real Housewives of New York and the U.S. Open.

Literie first began as a side project during the pandemic, but the products became popular very quickly. And as soon as her very specifically scented candles went viral, retailers came knocking. For example, Macy's reached out to Literie about purchasing a wholesale order.

This moment, said Werber, was when she realized Literie was going to become a full-time job. When the order first came in, she said, "I really thought that I could have my manufacturer develop these, ship them to me and I would throw them in my car and drive them to Macy's." Of course, that's not how retail works. And so, Literie had to find a warehouse to fulfill the growing number of orders. "At that point, I was like if we're going to start investing just to do this Macy's order, then we have to really work to make this investment worth it."

Two years in, Literie is continuing to grow and expanding its retail footprint. And it's also open to bringing on new brand partnerships. But, according to Werber, even though the brand is still a startup she does have some hard rules.

For one, all partnerships must include the Literie name. "I don't need to put the time and effort into something that isn't going to get people to come back to my website or give us more name recognition," she said.