Retail Reworks - Unsung Heroes of Consumer Brand World
The Story of a Brand Show
Ramon Vela
4.9 • 147 Ratings
🗓️ 20 July 2022
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is brought to you by Sendlane.
Retail Reworks' mission is to make DTC and retail brands happy while making the planet a better place. That's the goal of its complete return solutions, say Mike Kitko and Brian Adams, Co-founders of Retail Reworks.
"We're problem solvers in a variety of ways for direct-to-consumer brands and retailers through a variety of channels, returns, management - complete return solutions is what we call it," Mike says. "Our goal is to keep stuff out of the landfill."
Brian started the recycling business in Texas, a company that recycled tires and plastic. The labor costs required to run the business effectively were so high that he opened himself up to other ways his experience could help a brand.
He says the fashion retail business seemed to be a good target because it faced similar hurdles. The profitability of retail is based on how they handle reverse logistics.
"We help that brand manage that process," Brian says.
Mike says that could mean anything from replacing a zipper on a pair of pants to replacing tickets and tags or even cleaning the product.
Brian says that Retail Reworks can get about 95 percent of returned items back to retailers in a condition where they can resell them.
The bottom line for Retail Reworks is making three people happy: the retailer, the customer, and the planet.
"We've got to make Earth happy - 15 percent of the landfills are dominated by fast fashion and clothing consumption," Brian says.
In Part 1, Brian and Mike talk about:
* Mike's gratitude to Brian for taking a chance on him and letting him help start the company. Brian's gratitude for having people work with him instead of for him.
* An overview of the company.
* Their background in the recycling business.
* Why the retail returns business is so huge.
* The ins and outs of reverse logistics.
Join Ramon Vela, Mike Kitko, and Brian Adams as they break down the inside story on The Story of a Brand.
For more on Retail Reworks, visit: https://retailreworks.com/
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*
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We were problem solvers in a variety of ways |
| 0:02.6 | for direct to consumer brands and retailers. |
| 0:06.7 | Through a variety of channels, |
| 0:08.1 | returns management, complete return solutions is what we call it. |
| 0:12.9 | That's really A to Z management of the returns process |
| 0:16.5 | from your receiving, inspecting, grading, and repackaging. |
| 0:20.0 | And we go the whole way into the repairs and the re-commerce and resale and they're recycling, donations, everything. |
| 0:28.6 | You know, our goal is to keep stuff out of the landfill. We started that in kind of another one of our divisions when we started this, but they all sync together, making the planet a better place and making the brands happy. |
| 0:40.3 | So yeah, on the complete return solution side, so much to discuss there, but on the corrections side, you know, an industry people don't really know about when brands and retailers ship things in from overseas, whether |
| 0:55.3 | it be miscommunication with the factory, a mistake by the factory, or just the general |
| 1:01.2 | conditions of transporting this merchandise from overseas to America. |
| 1:06.6 | Things can happen to their product and I'm sure as you know it's already been marketed and put on sale |
| 1:14.6 | weeks ahead of the time of an arrival and when they get it and something's wrong with it. |
| 1:19.8 | It's the emergency of the decade and you know they need somebody to come in and solve their problem |
| 1:26.1 | and we always ask you know how quickly do you need this done and solve their problem. And we always ask, you know, how quickly do you need this done? |
| 1:28.8 | And we always get hit with yesterday. |
| 1:30.8 | So you got to jump on your toes and solve the problem. This is the story of a brand, a podcast that helps people learn the story behind their favorite consumer companies. |
| 1:51.2 | I'm Ramon Vela, and I believe that people want to know more about the brands and the products they purchase. |
| 1:56.7 | So each week, I interview the founder of a consumer brand, unpack their story, their products, and their mission, |
| 2:02.3 | so you can decide which products are worth buying |
| 2:04.5 | and which brands are worth supporting. |
| 2:09.5 | Hey, thanks for joining me for our interview with Mike Kitko and Brian Adams, |
... |
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