STORES

Jetty

Last year, after nearly a decade building Poppi from a farmers’ market small business to a beverage behemoth, founders Allison and Stephen Ellsworth sold their better-for-you soda brand to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion.

They took about six months off to relax. But then they got restless.

“I was like, ‘I’m just too young to retire, not built for this,’” Allison Ellsworth told Retail Brew.

Soon she got to work on the couple’s next venture, igniting buzz in the CPG world when she teased it this summer. Today—after a few decoy social posts to throw sleuths off their trail—the two are officially back into beverage with their new brand: Jetty, what Ellsworth called an “anti-hydration hydration company.” The Ellsworths are self-funding Jetty with $2.5 million, and the new brand is hitting shelves today at many of the same retailers where Poppi is sold.

While she says building the new business is “just as hard this time,” it’s also a lot different. (For starters, she’s got a camera crew following her “build the next billion-dollar brand.”) As Ellsworth looks to disrupt another beverage shelf, she’s learned from mistakes many first-time entrepreneurs make and is charting a more structured course in her second act.

Keep reading here.—EC

      

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MARKETING

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The retail media arm at Lowe’s recently struck new partnerships with tech, social, and entertainment platforms to position itself as a place that offers brands ad units ranging from search ads to video ads to target customers at different points in the shopping journey.

The home improvement chain is taking its ad business beyond its own channels to platforms like Roku, YouTube, DoorDash, and Reddit. Retail customers are engaging on these platforms and that’s where Lowe’s and its sellers can reach them through advertising, Elyse Blouin, VP and GM of Lowe’s Media Network, told Retail Brew. “We’re really investing in all areas of advertising across the full funnel.”

Each platform lets brands and retailers reach customers where they watch, discover, engage, and shop, the company said.

Keep reading here.—VC

      

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR & TRENDS

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A gift of a first edition of a classic book can be more meaningful than its latest paperback printing, and as resale booms, that goes for other categories, too.

More than 6 out of 10 (62%) of US consumers plan to purchase secondhand items this holiday season. Among millennials that jumps to 78%, and among Gen Z to 70%, according to a new holiday report from ThredUp.

The responses include presents both for others and—“Oh, I shouldn’t have!”—self-gifting. ThredUp commissioned GlobalData for the survey of 2,123 US adults in September.

While the most common drivers cited by respondents planning to buy secondhand were that it costs less (58%) and makes budgets go further (53%), and another 41% said it lets them afford better quality.

Keep reading here.—AAN

      

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Today’s top retail reads.

New order: Amazon has replaced Grubhub with Uber Eats as its restaurant-delivery partner for Prime members. (the Associated Press)

Every which whey: The protein craze has come for holiday treats, including high-protein versions of hot cocoa and peppermint bark-flavored protein bars. (Modern Retail)

Profit and Boss: Hugo Boss lowered forecasts for both its yearly sales and operating profits due to insufficient consumer demand and other factors. (Reuters)

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