Raph Peck, CEO of Brixton, outlines how the hat brand is navigating the current economic climate by prioritizing liquidity and optimizing existing sales channels. This episode offers valuable insights into adapting growth strategies for established brands with underdeveloped DTC channels, and expanding market reach amidst global disruptions. Ecommerce operators will learn critical approaches to financial management and brand expansion in challenging times.
Key takeaways
Prioritize liquidity over aggressive growth in uncertain economic climates to ensure business resilience.
Focus on optimizing existing sales channels, particularly underdeveloped DTC channels through both e-commerce and physical retail, before solely pursuing new markets.
Strategically expand geographically by leveraging regional success to grow nationally and then globally, rather than over-extending resources prematurely.
Diversify product categories to reduce reliance on a single revenue stream, even if a core product is dominant.
Adapt growth targets and business priorities in response to external factors like pandemics, shifting focus to profitability and longer customer dwell times when necessary.
In 2019, just ahead of the pandemic, Raph Peck joined Southern California-based Brixton as the hat brand’s CEO. Prior, Peck had spent five years as president of sports apparel brand Fanatics, and he’d also held leadership roles at Oakley, Under Armour and Adidas. According to Peck, the draw to Brixton was the unique challenge of making something large out of a smaller-scale company. At the time, the brand was 15 years old. “Brixton is, in some ways, smaller than most of the challenges I’ve taken on in my career, but it’s much more complex,” Peck said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “It has a much narrower consumer focus, an underdeveloped direct-to-consumer channel — both in physical retail and in e-commerce — and a diverse product set, with headwear being nearly half of our revenue.” Along with further developing Brixton’s existing sales channels and product categories, Peck saw the opportunity to expand the brand to new markets.
“Such a large percentage of our overall sales come from California,” he said. “So we [want to] take a company that's built a tremendous following regionally, and see if we can grow it in the United States and then, ultimately, globally.”
Of course, Covid and its lingering business effects have proven a disruption to most businesses’ plans. Peck shared how the pandemic has impacted his growth targets for Brixton, plus why profitability and lengthened dwell times are among his current goals.
Prioritize liquidity over aggressive growth in uncertain economic climates to ensure business resilience.
What does this episode say about finance & fundraising?
Focus on optimizing existing sales channels, particularly underdeveloped DTC channels through both e-commerce and physical retail, before solely pursuing new markets.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Strategically expand geographically by leveraging regional success to grow nationally and then globally, rather than over-extending resources prematurely.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Diversify product categories to reduce reliance on a single revenue stream, even if a core product is dominant.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Adapt growth targets and business priorities in response to external factors like pandemics, shifting focus to profitability and longer customer dwell times when necessary.
