The Modern Retail Podcast

This year, back-to-college spending is estimated to cross $100 billion for the first time, according to data from the National Retail Federation. About $14 billion of that, or about $194 per shopper, is in dorm and apartment furnishings. It’s the second-highest category after electronics, and some data suggests it's growing: Research from CTV ad platform MNTN last year shows that advertisers in dorm-adjacent categories saw average revenue grow 73.65 year over year during the peak purchase window in July. One of the companies at the center of these trends is Urban Outfitters, which has made a concerted effort to grow its furnishings business in recent years. The company's head of merchandising for non-apparel, Karen Booker, joined special projects editor Melissa Daniels on the Modern Retail Podcast this week to dive into how the company has evolved in this space.

Once Upon a Farm is on a growth trajectory that is powered in large part by a new look in the baby aisle. The brand, founded in 2015, offers organic, cold-pressed baby food and children's snacks. It went public in February after spending the past several years building up a unique wholesale strategy that places branded coolers in baby food aisles. The company ended 2025 with more than 3,400 coolers in grocery stores across the U.S. and is looking to surpass more than 5,000 by the end of 2026. Overall, the company saw net sales hit $85.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 42.3% from the prior year, according to its second-quarter earnings released Friday. But the cooler strategy is a major part of the growth story, per chief marketing officer Katie Marston. She joined special projects editor Melissa Daniels on the Modern Retail Podcast this week to discuss the strategy and how the brand convinced retailers like Target, Walmart and Kroger to place branded coolers in their baby aisles. The result is a way for Once Upon a Farm to shake up a category long dominated by shelf-stable products. “If we are going to create systemic change in children's nutrition, if we are going to shape the future of food, you have to place big bets, and you have to stick with them," Marston said.

As an official sales partner for Ray-Ban Meta glasses, Best Buy is rethinking what it means to deliver experiential retail in the age of AI. This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels sat down with Best Buy's executive vice president and chief revenue officer, Patrick McGinnis, to go behind the scenes into the development of the new 30-by-30-foot Meta AI shop-in-shops rolling out in select stores. It’s the latest example of how Best Buy is looking to position itself as a destination for cutting-edge technology — and it's also a case study into how legacy retailers can rethink the store experience for new audiences. Best Buy plans to have 50 stores selling the new Ray-Ban Meta frames by the end of the year, with the hopes of increasing that to as many as 200 or more by the end of next year, McGinnis said. The company knows there's demand for people to check out the specs in person; its own survey data shows that more than 50% of Best Buy customers say they want to see the Meta glasses in person before making a purchase. And since the retailer first launched smaller displays in 100 stores last October, more than 175,000 customers have completed a demo in a Best Buy store. But beyond creating a destination for people to try out cutting-edge tech in person, the shop-in-shop provided an opportunity for Best Buy to revamp its store layout, McGinnis said. It aims to have more flexible space for experiential retail, including for more AI-powered products, on the horizon.