Modern Retail Podcast: Klarna’s losses double, Dockers and The Vitamin Shoppe find new buyers, and Bansk’s chief supply chain officer talks tariffs

In other news, Dockers and The Vitamin Shoppe were both acquired by respective companies. Levi Strauss announced the sale of khakis maker Dockers to Authentic Brands Group for $311 million. The Vitamin Shoppe was bought out by Kingswood Capital Management and Performance Investment Partners for an undisclosed amount. Both sales are examples of struggling retailers trying to find their footing with modern customers.

Later in the episode, Daniels speaks with Liran Golan, the chief supply chain officer at Bansk Beauty that holds hair-care brands Amika, Eva NYC and Ethique. They discuss how tariff policy changes can impact brands beyond the duties themselves, with a ripple effect on how brands make, manage and move their product. Here are some highlights of their conversation.

What was it like becoming chief supply officer as new tariff policies were kicking in?
“We’re somewhat fortunate because we already had plans in place to near-shore a lot of our production. When the news came out in February, there was a part of me saying, ‘Wow, we made a great decision a year and a half ago.’ And then the second part was starting to think about the global implications, right? So with all of this, it could change the landscape of the global supply chain, and supply chain is very linked. Even though we’re talking about a U.S. market, it’s all very much impacted by what’s happening in Europe and what’s happening in Asia.

Then we quickly pivoted to, ‘What’s my exposure?’ I started to say, ‘OK, based on what I know now and what I’m hearing about things, what’s my exposure? How much impact do I have on the P&L?’ … And then, lastly, it was about making sure we had the right framework for listening to what was going on. It was also very clear that things were changing by the minute, in some cases, and so I wanted to make sure there wasn’t noise in the team and that we were getting the facts and dealing with facts correctly.”

How companies have exposure to tariffs for components that can’t be found in the United States
“There’s still a part of my portfolio that comes from Asia. Historically, components that require more assembly — like a trigger or pump, where you have components within components — have been much more cost-effective to source from Asia. That’s why a portion of my supply chain has remained there.

But now, I’m being forced to re-evaluate that, because the cost equation is shifting. What used to be more expensive to near-shore is now either comparable to, or even more favorable than, sourcing from Asia.

The U.S. has traditionally been more competitive when you get to very high-volume manufacturing, because at that scale, you can leverage a lot of automation. At that point, the labor cost difference between the U.S. and Asia becomes less of a factor. That’s really the key distinction. For the volumes we’re buying for my brands, we’re not hitting those minimum order quantities — that’s why China or other parts of Asia are more feasible for us right now.

That said, I do think rising demand will eventually start to shift more of that sourcing back to the U.S.”

On choosing a new supplier
“There’s a lot that goes into supplier selection. The basics, for me that I think about when it comes to supplier selection are quality, service and cost. Above everything, you have to have quality. If you’re not making quality product, no, thank you. Second is service. Are you able to service my business? Meaning, when I place P.O.s with you, are you able to fulfill those POs on time, and in full? Because if you’re not, it’s going to disrupt my supply chain. And then, of course, cost. You have to be cost competitive. And it’s not just about your opening price, but it’s also your ability to also manage costs throughout time.

The other piece — the more intangible piece — is the partnership piece. That’s because, whether we like it or not, there are bigger suppliers and there are smaller suppliers. And equally, there are bigger customers and there are smaller customers. … If I’m going to some massive supplier that’s dealing with P&G and with Unilever, I’m never going to have a voice with them. If I’m buying some commodity that’s very basic, maybe that’s fine, and I could just buy it from them. But if it’s a more strategic type of purchase, I might want to think about a smaller supplier that I have a bigger voice with.”