Kirk Keel, Co-founder & Co-CEO of Stantt, Talks About Offline Strategies for DTC Brands

06/03/20 • 48 min

This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features an in-depth conversation about offline sales strategies for DTC brands including pop-ups, wholesale and bricks & mortar, with Kirk Keel, Co-founder & Co-CEO of Stantt, a menswear brand. Kirk talks about how Stantt built up their wholesale business to over 400 stores, including specialty stores and Nordstrom, while also running pop-ups and their online channel. For founders who want to crack the wholesale code, this is a can’t-miss episode.

Topics:
- Why and when Stantt started focusing on offline channels for growth
- The pros and cons of pop-ups and how to some locations work better than others
- Testing mall versus urban pop-up experiences and how they’re different
- Networking to get the right contacts at department stores to build a relationship
- Testing wholesale with larger chains like Nordstrom and the keys to making that test successful
- Working with salespeople at wholesale to make your brand a success
- Optimizing time and effort at trade shows to gain more wholesale accounts
- How wholesale has been affected during COVID and how Stantt is working to support wholesale partners
- What the bricks and mortar world and consumer preference might look like in the future
Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

Previous Episode

Elana Reinholtz, Founder & CEO, Bird + Stone Talks About Early Stage DTC Acquisition

“Understand your customer like a friend.” This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth conversation about fundraising and building a business with Elana Reinholtz, Founder & CEO of Bird + Stone, a cause-based jewelry company. Elana talks about her building her brand, how she built it starting with an Etsy shop and how she stays in touch with her customers. She also shares resources and tools that have helped her along the way.

Topics:
- Getting initial insights from early sales and testing in a scrappy way
- Finding ways to understand your early customers at launch and beyond
- Running partnerships with complementary brands as an acquisition strategy
- Paid advertising: what worked and what didn’t in the early days
- Building and launching products based on early customer insights
- Thinking through PR and press including DIY versus using agencies
- Figuring out how and which influencers could work for your brand
- Measuring metrics like CAC and LTV
Resources Elana Mentions:- Women Entrepreneurship NYC and the WE Fund (offers debt financing)
- Dojo Mojo – CRM software system
- Shogun – Tool for landing pages, works with Shopify
- Hotjar – Heatmapping tool
- Facebook Insights – Tool for paid Facebook insights

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

Next Episode

How to Choose an Accelerator/Incubator Featuring Jackie Trebilcock, Managing Director of New York Fashion Tech Lab

Welcome to Season 2 of the Retail X Series Podcast! This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features an in-depth conversation about choosing an accelerator or incubator program, featuring the Managing Director of New York Fashion Tech Lab, Jackie Trebilcock. Jackie gives her tips and advice to founders trying to understand what criteria they should use to evaluate programs, how the process work and even how to take advantage of program resources. For founders who are considering to NYFTL, or any other program, don't miss this episode.

Topics:
- What these sorts of programs look for from startup applicants
- How being virtual has affected timelines since the start of COVID
- What questions founders should ask a program that they are considering applying to
- Why founder/program "fit" matters
- How to leverage mentors in a program - and track that
- Why demo days exist - and can they help you fundraise
- Why program alumni networks can be important
- How to compare and think about programs that take equity versus those that are fee-based
- Jackie's best advice for founders considering applying to an incubator or accelerator
Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com
Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.