Modern Retail Podcast: Dick’s $2.4B Foot Locker bet, the Girl Scout brand empire and behind the scenes of AG1’s product research
On this episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, co-hosts Gabriella Barkho and Melissa Daniels kick off with a look at Dick’s Sporting Goods $2.4 billion acquisition of Foot Locker, which also includes brands like Champs Sports and WSS. The merger brings Dick’s number of stores to more than 3,200 locations in 20 countries. Then they talk about the launch of a new Girl Scout cookie — “Exploremores” — and how the Girl Scouts have crafted a novel sales stream that has evolved from door-to-door to SMS marketing.
Then, on this week’s featured segment, Daniels interviews Kat Cole, the CEO of AG1. The green supplement powder netted $600 million in revenue last year off its single SKU — but 2025 has seen some big expansions. Not only did AG1 release a revamped formula called NextGen that comes in new flavors, but it also launched its sleep supplement AGZ and entered its first wholesale partnership with Costco. Cole goes deep into the behind-the-scenes of AG1’s powerful research and development tools, including:
- Why it specializes in triple-blind testing to ensure its products can claim efficacy
- The added expenses of new formulations that include more B vitamins or probiotics
- How it’s scaled its supply chain and manufacturing before entering new categories