Field Notes

Plain-English answers from 30 years of retail experience.

No fluff. No theory. Just the things buyers, distributors, and category managers actually do.

How Do I Get My Product Into Retail Stores?

The honest five-step path from finished product to a national retailer purchase order, written by the people who actually do this every week.

Brokers, consultants, manufacturers' reps: the titles overlap and the fees vary. Here is exactly what each one does and which one your brand needs.

Choose the wrong distribution model and your product dies on the wrong shelf. Here is the practical framework we use with every new brand.

Founders ask us this every week. Here is a realistic budget for taking a beverage from prototype to coast-to-coast retail.

Buyers see hundreds of pitches a quarter. Yours has 90 seconds to land. Here is exactly what they are scanning for.

Sign with the wrong distributor and your brand sits in their warehouse for a year. Here is the framework we use to choose the right one.

Slotting fees are not the universal price of admission founders think they are. Here is when you pay, when you negotiate, and when you walk away.

A realistic month-by-month plan for taking a consumer product from concept to first national shipment in 12 months.

80 percent of new consumer packaged goods fail within 12 months. The reasons are predictable, and almost all of them are preventable.

Regional success does not automatically translate to national distribution. Here is the path that actually works.