StoreyLine Weekly No.4
What is "sustainability" and how Allbirds & Outdoor Voices communicate their commitment
Hi friends 👋,
Happy hump day! As the Internet likes to remind us:

In this newsletter, I cover fun, digestible retail news, spotlight innovative DTC founders, and dive into interesting consumer trends. Share your feedback in the comments!
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At a glance
😷 It’s all about that mask. More apparel companies pivot to making masks, and their posts about masks get higher engagement.
📺 A new kind of reality TV. Chinese farmers are using live streaming services like Taobao Live and Kuaishou to sell produce. And they are seeing some early success.
✈️ Airline snacks go DTC. With air travel being almost non-existent, airlines are handing out their surplus snacks. Imperfect Foods now offer consumers Jetblue’s signature cheese and snack trays. I miss those from my traveling days…
👩⚖️ Patent troll. SmileDirectClub is trying to patent its entire retail store concept in order to shut down all of Candid’s locations.
🛍️ Malls are beginning to re-open. Half of Simon’s malls, which is the largest mall operator in the U.S, are scheduled to re-open within a week.
Spotlight - Sustainability

(Photo by Charles Etoroma on Unsplash)
“Sustainability” is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the consumer world. To be honest, as an average consumer, I find that term vague and don’t know how brands make their products more “sustainable”.
My friend, Dana Krastev, is passionate about this topic and has a lot of thoughts to share.
In the article that she wrote for StoreyLine, we talked about how brands should focus on a few measurable goals that are tied to the company vision and achievable based on their current business model.
We also looked at how different DTC brands communicate their commitment to sustainability, and how that affected what we think of them.
One brand that integrates sustainability across channels and touchpoints well is Allbirds.
Take a look at the product page for their wool runners; they break down each component of the shoe and explain its environmental bonafide, and also share the total carbon footprint.
This kind of detailed disclosure builds credibility with customers, though they could be more transparent about their labor standards and where they manufacture.

On the other hand, Outdoor Voices, despite declaring their sustainability intentions, make no mention of it on their product pages.
All they disclose is fabric mix, and seem to be more concerned with trademarking the fabric (i.e., TechSweat™) than explaining its impact on the planet. This is a miss, and undermines their “promise of transparency.”

If you have thoughts to share on the topic of sustainability, please leave a comment!
Brand hunt
New brands that look interesting:
Eat: CBD chewing gum; sustainable food: kelp jerky; ready-to-eat, plant-based meals.
Health: Wearable, personal thermostat; at-home male fertility test and sperm storage; toothpaste in tablet form.
At StoreyLine, our mission is to help creative and daring DTC founders tell their powerful stories and empower consumers to discover innovative products & brands that matter to them.
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