About this episode

Eitan Koter interviews Rebekah Kondrat about retail strategies for ecommerce founders looking to expand into physical stores.

Welcome to Commerce Untold. In this episode, host Eitan Koter sits down with Rebekah Kondrat, Founder of Recon Retail, a company that helps ecommerce and DTC brands launch and scale physical stores. Rebekah has worked with brands like Apple, Starbucks, Warby Parker, Outdoor Voices, and Joybird. Today, she partners with growing brands that are ready to expand beyond online sales and build retail the right way. Together, they unpack the idea that retail is dying. Rebekah explains that most purchases still happen in person and that brands cannot rely on a single channel anymore. Online only brands are opening stores, and store based brands must strengthen their ecommerce presence. The future is about making both work together. She shares when a DTC brand should consider opening its first store, why revenue around 10 million dollars can be a helpful benchmark, and why your first location should be close enough for leadership to stay connected to customers. They also discuss what separates profitable stores from the rest, how product selection should vary by region, and why operations can make or break the retail experience. If you are thinking about expanding from ecommerce into…

People in this episode

Host: Eitan Koter

Guest: Rebekah Kondrat

Topics covered

• retail strategy
• ecommerce expansion
• physical stores
• DTC brands
• customer connection
• retail operations

Keywords

• ecommerce
• retail
• DTC
• physical stores
• expansion
• customer experience
• operations
• benchmark
• product selection

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Recon Retail, Apple, Starbucks, Warby Parker, Outdoor Voices, Joybird

More episodes of Commerce Untold

• 206. Why Your 3PL Is Killing Your Business ft. Leo Rodriguez · May 6, 2026 · 32 min
• 204. Smarter Ads That Profit ft. Matt Raminick · April 17, 2026 · 31 min
• 203. Why Paid Ads Are Breaking Your Business ft. Adam Callinan · April 10, 2026 · 31 min
• 202. Why TikTok Beats Instagram for Sales ft. Iñigo Rivero · April 3, 2026 · 29 min
• 200. The Truth About Creator Marketing ROI with Megan Vasquez · February 19, 2026 · 32 min
• 199. Why Your Amazon Page Isn’t Converting with Daniela Bolzmann · February 12, 2026 · 30 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Commerce Untold podcast page.