Why Rothy’s is sponsoring pizza-making parties and vintage sales hosted by Substack stars 

Weeks later, “Feed Me” writer Emily Sundberg invited her readers to a Rothy’s-sponsored pizza-making party at Fini Pizza in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Rothy’s gave Sundberg full creative control to craft an event she knew would inspire her devoted readers to step away from their screens and gather together offline. 

“Rather than doing a stale brand dinner, she said, ‘I want people using their hands and have something worth getting out of the house for,’” Anna Doré, senior director of communications at Rothy’s, told Modern Retail. “We didn’t overthink it — we said, ‘Absolutely, yes.’”

These two recent events are part of Rothy’s broader strategy to translate Substack’s intimate digital communities into meaningful, real-life experiences. Early data suggests Rothy’s efforts are paying off: The brand saw a 75% increase in foot traffic to its Nolita store on the day of Veurink’s event, making it the highest-volume Sunday of the year at that location.

Brands are increasingly turning to Substack as a marketing platform — not just for IRL activations, but also for long-form branded content. As Modern Retail previously reported, companies like Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, luxury resale marketplace The RealReal and women’s apparel brand M.M.LaFleur have launched newsletters on the platform to deepen brand storytelling and foster community with online audiences. 

Rothy’s, for its part, has experimented with Substack in the form of sponsored posts. For example, the shoe brand teamed up with Caro Chambers of the “What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking” newsletter to bring her readers her easy-but-fancy holiday menu in December. And, last month, Rothy’s partnered with Joanna Goddard of “Big Salad” to sponsor a summer styling segment. 

Those online collabs could very well lead to more IRL events in the future. As Rothy’s Doré put it, “With Caro, Joanna and most every writer we’re in touch with, we’re also exploring offline community events.”

From Substack to storefront

For Rothy’s, the next phase involves bringing these community-driven activations to its new brick-and-mortar locations across the U.S. The push comes as the brand doubles down on physical retail — an increasingly important driver of growth for Rothy’s. In 2024, Rothy’s reported a 17% year-over-year revenue increase, reaching a record $211 million, with same-store sales up 20%, Modern Retail previously reported. Its expanding store fleet played a key role in that milestone.

The brand, which currently operates 29 stores, is planning to open eight to 10 new locations this year — and it hopes to make Substack-led community events a recurring component of those store launches. 

“Often, these writers have an amazing, connected community all over the map. It’s smart to be pulling them in as we’re growing grassroots communities,” Doré said. “You’ll see an event in a couple of weeks [in Greenwich, Connecticut] with a Substack partner that we’re excited about.”

While these collaborations aren’t designed solely as sales drivers, the brand is seeing a measurable halo effect. “There’s a pipeline and a flywheel from these events,” Doré said. “Often people like Erika [Veurink] and Emily [Sundberg] are so well-connected in the Substack community themselves that who is in the room is naturally another great gathering of writers and creators and talent that we want to be a part of their worlds.”

So far, Rothy’s approach to IRL events is rooted in long-term relationships with creators who already love the brand. Veurink first caught Rothy’s attention in April 2023 after she praised the brand’s Mary Jane flats in a Strategist column about walking 15,000 steps a day in them through Florence. Since then, Veurink has become “an unofficial ambassador” for Rothy’s, Veurink told Modern Retail in an interview. “Even if I’m not doing paid content with them, … I probably get a text [from a reader] once a week of, like, ‘I’m in between the clogs and the Mary Janes — what would you go for?’”

To Veurink, partnering with prominent Substackers to host in-person events could be a way for brands to tap into the platform’s ecosystem of devoted subscribers without committing to a branded newsletter, a trend that has gained even more momentum as companies like Madewell and American Eagle have introduced newsletters of their own. 

“This is a way smarter approach because you’re not trying to build a community from scratch,” Veurink said. “You’re actually coasting on the coattails of a really valuable community. People who maybe know they love ‘Long Live,’ but don’t know if they love Rothy’s, get the chance to experience [the brand] in the context of me and my Substack.”

The creator economy, IRL

Rothy’s approach to IRL activations comes as the creator economy is increasingly shifting offline.

In May, for instance, Philadelphia-based content creator Brandon Edleman, who has 1.3 million followers, flew out a handful of fans for a weekend packed with Heydey facials, baseball and rooftop dinners, per Glossy. The event was backed by more than 30 brands including Abercrombie, Béis and Converse. Glossy also reported about how clothing rental service Nuuly  is tapping micro-influencers to host IRL events, ranging from book swaps to matcha meetups. It’s paying off: Nuuly’s subscriber base surged 53% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, surpassing 300,000 members and driving a $5.2 million profit.

Casey Lewis, who recently wrote about the rise of IRL creator events for her “After School” newsletter, told Modern Retail in an interview that she expects more brands to hop on the bandwagon, especially to leverage the followings that popular Substackers like Veurink and Sundberg possess. 

As Lewis put it, “People like brands, but they don’t often feel compelled to show up for them, unless there’s some sort of incentive, whether it be a freebie or something like that.”