How Mixology Builds Winning Retail Experiences | Rebecca Lendino

About this episode

From starting as a 17-year-old sales associate to becoming VP at Mixology, Rebecca Lendino's journey is a masterclass in understanding what truly drives fashion retail. In this episode of Brewed, she breaks down how modern brands win by combining data, intuition, and customer obsession, not just trends or aesthetics.

This conversation is for founders trying to crack omnichannel, marketers navigating the shift from e-commerce to retail, and brand builders who want to create experiences, not just transactions. We talk about why stores are making a comeback, how high-low merchandising actually works, why your best insights come from frontline staff, and how AI is changing the way collections are built.

If you're building a fashion brand, scaling retail, or trying to understand what today's customer really wants, this episode will change how you think about merchandising, loyalty, and growth.

What you'll learn

• Mixology high-low merchandising playbook
• What High-Low Merchandising Actually Means
• The Good-Better-Best framework
• Building Collections Around Life Moments, Not Product Categories
• How AI Has Changed the Buying Process
• The Omnichannel Decision Most Brands Get Wrong
• The Insight That Came From the Sales Floor
• When to Cut a Brand From Your Assortment
• The Broader Lesson

The complete breakdown

1. Mixology high-low merchandising playbook

There's a gap in fashion that most brands either miss entirely or get crushed trying to occupy.

It sits between the $25 fast-fashion top and the $800 designer blouse. It's the space where a real customer lives, someone who'll buy a $68 top without flinching, then pair it with a $1,000 pair of shoes she's been saving for. She's not a budget shopper. She's not a luxury shopper. She's something more interesting: a high-low shopper. And she's been underserved for years.

Mixology built its entire business around her.

Rebecca Lendino, VP of Brand & Retail Operations at Mixology, has spent a decade inside this model, first as a 17-year-old sales associate on the floor, then through Macy's executive development program, and now as the person responsible for buying, brand strategy, and retail operations across all Mixology locations.

In a recent episode of Brewed, she broke down exactly how the high-low model works, why it's profitable when executed correctly, and what most fashion founders get wrong when they try to build in this space.

2. What high-low merchandising actually means

The term gets used loosely. Rebecca's definition is specific.

"High-low dressing is mixing high and low price points. That's where Mixology's sweet spot is - that white space between your entry-level brand and your designer brand."

At Macy's, where Rebecca was formally trained, the model is different. One customer, one market, one price tier. The department store approach works because of scale and volume. But it doesn't leave room for the kind of styling relationship that builds genuine loyalty.

High-low merchandising requires you to hold two things in your head at once: the customer who's buying a $38 top as her entry point, and the same customer who might spend $200 on a jacket she'll wear for five years. She's not inconsistent. She's intentional. And your job as a buyer is to serve both versions of her within the same assortment.

3. The Good-Better-Best framework

Rebecca structures every buy around three tiers, and the margin logic behind each one is worth understanding clearly.

Good is your entry-level price point. Its job is not to make you rich. Its job is to get the customer in the door.

"A $38 top is what's roping in that initial customer. That's what's getting them into the funnel."

Better is where your business actually runs. It's the bulk of the assortment, the tier where the customer has already decided she trusts you, and where you have room to build in real margin.

"That is really where the customer has built brand loyalty. It's your sweet spot. And that's where you can build in the margin to your business."

Best is your fashion statement. Lower margin, higher intent, lower volume, but critically important for a different reason. It signals to the customer that you understand aspiration, not just value.

"It might be a lower margin, but it's adding that sprinkle that's special to why we do what we do."

The mistake most brands make is either over-indexing on best, chasing prestige they haven't earned yet, or abandoning it entirely and losing the customer who wants something to aspire to. The profitable zone lives in better. The good tier earns the customer. The best tier keeps her inspired.

4. Building collections around life moments, not product categories

Most buyers think in categories: tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear. Rebecca thinks in moments.

"When you're doing a collection, you ask: who are you buying for? What are they looking for in their life? Are they going on a trip? A girl's night? A date?"

This is a subtle but significant shift in how you approach an assortment. A category-first buyer asks "how many dresses should we carry?" A moment-first buyer asks "what does she need for the three trips she's taking this summer?" The resulting assortment is more coherent, the customer feels more understood, and sell-throughs are higher because you've anticipated intent rather than just offered options.

This is also what makes a boutique feel like discovery rather than shopping. When everything in the store seems to belong together — not because it matches, but because it makes sense for the same person's life, customers feel curated for, not just merchandised at.

5. How AI has changed the buying process

Four years ago, the backbone of the buying process was spreadsheets. Not because buyers didn't want better tools, but because there wasn't a faster way to hindsight a season, understand sell-through by category, and adjust going into the next buy.

Today the process looks fundamentally different.

"It used to take a lot longer to hindsight a business and understand what levers we needed to pull before we went into a buying season. Now it's more of a free-flowing Q&A with an AI that knows your business in a really big and different way."

Rebecca points to their linen collection, a perennial spring-summer powerhouse through their brand Robertson and Rodeo, as a concrete example. Previously, the questions they could answer were relatively blunt: did we have enough tops? What was the sell-through on dresses? Now they can go deeper: which colorways are driving repeat purchases? How does the size curve shift between early and late season? Where is depth of inventory underperforming demand?

The insight isn't just that AI makes this faster. It's that it frees up time for the work that still requires a human: understanding the customer emotionally, building the story of a collection, knowing when data is telling you something true versus something misleading.

"You're able to spend more time on things you love doing versus being in the weeds with data."

6. The omnichannel decision most brands get wrong

Most retailers operate a separate strategy for online and in-store assortment. Mixology doesn't, and Rebecca argues this is one of the things that makes them genuinely different.

"There is nothing more frustrating than seeing an item you love online and then not being able to get it in store. Our best customers shop online and in store with us."

The standard argument for a separate online assortment is that the internet can carry more depth and breadth than a physical location can. That's true. But if you use that logic to offer meaningfully different products in each channel, you're creating friction for your best customers, the ones who move fluidly between both.

Mixology's answer is to mirror the assortment and use online for depth, not differentiation.

"The online experience and how we assort it differently is that there's more and deeper availability. Online does that so well, you can sell to thousands of customers all over the globe."

The store is for the experience. The app and website are for access and availability. But the product story should be coherent across both.

7. The insight that came from the sales floor

One of the most powerful buying decisions Rebecca describes didn't come from a trend report or an AI query. It came from the stores.

The Lazy Day Sweatpants (through their brand Jack Parker) became a runaway product after the buying team received consistent feedback from frontline staff that customers were asking for a basic sweatpant. The team responded by extending the color assortment using the season's Pantone palette and bought deep.

"We were getting a lot of call-outs for a basic sweatpant from our stores. We were able to leverage that in-store feedback and blow it up and make it a big idea for the customer."

The lesson isn't just that frontline feedback matters. It's that the people closest to the customer are your best intelligence system, and that systems which route that intelligence upward quickly will consistently out-buy competitors who rely only on historical data.

Rebecca makes this explicit as a leadership philosophy: "I always say I'm at service of my frontline staff. They're working with the customer directly every day."

8. When to cut a brand from your assortment

One of the harder skills in buying is knowing when to walk away from a brand relationship. Rebecca's framework is simple and worth adopting directly.

One bad season is not a decision point. It's data.

"You can't make any decisions off of one season. If you have one bad season, it happens to everyone."

Two or more consecutive underperforming seasons trigger a real evaluation, but the evaluation starts with root cause, not outcome. Is the brand the problem? Is the negotiation structure the problem? Is it placement or marketing? Only after that analysis does a cut make sense.

"If the margin still isn't there, if it's moving to markdown frequently, then there's a conversation to be had. And it's never with any negativity."

The goal isn't to be ruthless. It's to be honest - about what's working, what isn't, and what serving the customer long-term actually requires.

9. The broader lesson

Fashion retail is often discussed in terms of aesthetics -what looks good, what's trending, what the algorithm is surfacing this week. Rebecca's decade at Mixology is a reminder that the brands that last are built on something more durable: a precise understanding of one customer, a pricing architecture that earns margin at every tier, and a feedback loop that keeps the buying team close to what people actually want.

The high-low model isn't a positioning statement. It's a set of daily decisions about who you're serving and what you're willing to stock for them. Get those decisions right consistently, and the white space Rebecca describes becomes one of the most defensible positions in fashion retail.

The complete episode transcript

Abhijeet: Welcome to Brewed — a podcast for e-commerce CMOs, brand builders and marketers who want to know what really goes into building modern brands. Every episode brings you real strategies and honest stories from the people doing the work. Today's guest is Rebecca. Welcome, Rebecca.

Rebecca: Thank you so much for having me.

Abhijeet: I'd love to know about your story — how did you get into building brands? And I remember during our dinner you mentioned being a swimmer or athlete. I'd love to hear that part of the story too, and how that transition shaped who you are today.

Rebecca: I was a competitive baton twirler in high school and I was captain of the team. That captaincy really informed my leadership style all the way through to what Mixology is today. I was actually working at Mixology on the sales floor as a part-time associate when I started — hired at 17. Now, a decade later, I lead brand operations and retail store operations and I'm also one of the buyers and merchants. I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology, then to Macy's for their executive development program where I was formally trained in buying and planning. COVID hit, I was furloughed, I went back to Mixology as an associate buyer, and worked myself up to VP — which is where we are in 2026.

Abhijeet: How have things changed since you joined Mixology post-COVID? What's shifted from a customer behavior perspective?

Rebecca: Back in 2020 there was a huge resurgence of e-commerce — that was the main point of contact in the customer journey. Now I feel like the customer is so eager to get back into stores and have that touch-and-feel experience. In the age of AI, there is no better way to interact than going into your local community store and having that one-on-one experience with a sales associate who's really invested in your journey. It was very e-commerce heavy and now our customer really wants to get back to brick and mortar.

Abhijeet: How is the high-low merchandising model different from the traditional buying roles you were trained in at Macy's?

Rebecca: Macy's is very traditional — one customer shopping for a specific market. High-low means you're really touching different assets of the customer in their journey. You're mixing high and low price points, and that's Mixology's sweet spot. We sit in the white space between entry-level and designer. The Mixology customer is buying a $68 top and mixing it with a $1,000 pair of shoes or a $5,000 handbag. That's a really big white space in the industry right now.

Abhijeet: If I had to summarize the difference between Macy's and Mixology in three lines, what would those be?

Rebecca: You have to know your customer. You're at service of your customer, not the other way around. Once you learn who they are, you're able to better make decisions about what to stock for them. Macy's does that well, Mixology does that well — they just serve two very different types of customers.

Abhijeet: What are the strengths and weaknesses you had starting out in merchandising, and how did they evolve into different roles?

Rebecca: A lot of the strengths in merchandising are mathematical. You don't realize how much of your day is spent in a spreadsheet — you have to be mathematically inclined, and understanding data will get you further so much faster. In terms of weaknesses, it's hard for me to relinquish control. I love to be involved in every single aspect of the business. I'm still actively working on separating myself and letting my team take the wheel. But strengths — understanding the data, and really understanding what makes the business work because I've been involved for such a long period of time.

Abhijeet: How do you balance store managers acting as mini-owners while maintaining a cohesive brand vision?

Rebecca: Everyone in fashion has very strong personalities. You have to be fluid in how you deal with people because everybody needs something different. But they all have one thing in common: passion for the industry. Our CEO does an amazing job at setting the standard of where we are moving towards. So even with a million different opinions and tensions, we're all moving in one direction — for Mixology, for the Mixology customer, for the business.

Abhijeet: If a brand launching online wants to go offline, how do you curate assortments so the customer feels they're discovering something special — not just shopping?

Rebecca: When you're assorted for a boutique, you're already curating a story. In the preseason process you ask: who are you buying for? Are they going on a trip, a girl's night, a date? You put yourself in the mindset of that customer and plan the collection based on that. You have a few date-night tops, a few resort dresses. That's what makes it feel special versus more of a treasure hunt experience. You're creating collections with the customer's journey in mind.

Abhijeet: How has AI changed that process?

Rebecca: Four years ago it was a lot of spreadsheets — the entire basis of how we were creating everything. With AI it's completely different. We get answers at the snap of our fingers. It used to take a lot longer to hindsight a business and understand what levers to pull before a buying season. Now it's more of a free-flowing Q&A with an AI that knows your business in a really big and different way. You're able to spend more time on things you love doing versus being in the weeds with data.

Abhijeet: Walk us through one season you built and how AI amplified that process.

Rebecca: Our linen collection through our brand Robertson and Rodeo is a powerhouse every spring-summer. Customers ask for it, look forward to it — a mix of linen blend and 100% linen. Previously we'd understand what the customer wanted based on a spreadsheet: how did things sell through? Did we have enough bottoms, tops, dresses? Now with AI we understand what they're looking for on such a deeper level — how to extend SKU count, which colors they want, what sizes sold best, how to forecast the size curve. We get far more data points quickly and have better sell-throughs as a result.

Abhijeet: If a founder is launching a fashion brand online today, what themes or opportunities would you tell them to look for?

Rebecca: The place to be for any trend is TikTok. You have to dig deep and understand what that customer is looking for. Trends happen so fast now — the go-to-market cycle is so much quicker. I would have a team of social media people, e-commerce people, and buyers, similar to how we're structured at Mixology, where everyone cares deeply and understands the trend and the customer. Spend a lot of time on TikTok. Know what your customer is looking for. Where are they going? What are they doing? Get inside their mind.

Abhijeet: How do you structure buys across a range from $20 to $200 to keep customers happy and stay profitable?

Rebecca: We approach it as good–better–best. Good pricing gets your customer in the door — a $38 top ropes in the initial customer, introduces them to the funnel. Once they have an amazing experience, they move into the better category, which is where brand loyalty is built and where the bulk of your assortment sits — that's where you build your margin. Then best: maybe a $200 very special jacket. It might be a lower margin, but it adds that special sprinkle. And in that mid-price point is where you maintain a profitable business.

Abhijeet: When do you know it's time to cut a brand vs. give it another season?

Rebecca: You can't make any decision off one season. If you have one bad season, it happens to everyone — we wouldn't cut a brand after a single poor performance. If it's happening season over season, then you evaluate the root cause. Is it us not negotiating well upfront? If the margin still isn't there, if things are moving to markdown frequently, then there's a conversation to be had — but never with negativity. We love working with all our brands. We want to be around for the customer forever.

Abhijeet: How do you determine what will sell online versus in-store?

Rebecca: Mixology approaches this differently than most brands. We try our best to have the same assortment reflected both online and in-store. Nothing is more frustrating for our customer than seeing an item they love online and not being able to get it in-store — our best customers shop both. The difference is depth — online can carry more inventory because it isn't constrained by square footage. In-store is where the human experience happens. But we try to offer both — that omnichannel experience — which makes for a more joyful journey.

Abhijeet: Share one buying decision that surprised everyone — and what was the insight behind it.

Rebecca: The Lazy Day Sweatpants through our brand Jack Parker. The customer could not get enough. We took a risk by extending the color assortment using the Pantone colors of that season and it completely propelled the business forward. The insight came from our stores — we were getting a lot of call-outs for a basic sweatpant. I always say I'm at service of my frontline staff. They're face to face with customers every day. We leveraged that feedback and blew it into a big idea. She was wearing them to school, on errands, on airplanes. Awesome.

Abhijeet: App vs. web vs. in-store — who is each customer?

Rebecca: Our app customers are the most loyal, hands down. And our app customer is definitely in-store as well — it's all about that omni journey for our best, most loyal customers. They love the ease, speed, and conversion of an app. I love getting push notifications; I love how they're directed at me at the right time. Our app customers always want Mixology to be part of their journey. It's really the same person — they shop online, they shop in stores, and the app is just an extension of that.

Abhijeet: If you were leading our product team at AppBrew, what features would you want shipped immediately?

Rebecca: The biggest thing you get in a physical store that you don't get on app is the styling experience. Anything that gives the customer a way to shop in outfits is the way to go. When you walk into Mixology you get a head-to-toe styling service — we're building your wardrobe around the experiences in your life. Any styling opportunity built within the app will convert women's wear customers. We like to buy outfits, not individual pieces. It's always: how does this top look with these jeans and what accessory am I adding? Give us that styling experience and you've bridged the biggest gap between app and store.

Abhijeet: What has been the emotional and leadership impact of managing merchandising through rapid expansion?

Rebecca: Being empathetic is number one. In the stores you have tunnel vision — you're worried about your specific book of business. Now, overseeing many individuals, it's more about ensuring they're comfortable with what they have to do. They're on their feet all day, working long hours, face to face with customers, lifting boxes. It's about understanding what they've been through and being in their shoes. How do I provide tools to make them do their jobs to their best ability? That shift took me a while to get there.

Abhijeet: What was the most critical personal transformation as a leader?

Rebecca: Getting over the fear of technology and AI — that's been my biggest transformation. How could I better use these tools to help me grow and change as a leader, versus being scared? Once you get over that fear, you're able to take on so much more than you ever imagined. And when you're about to give up, you're one millimeter away from success. You're right there.

Abhijeet: How should brands approach loyalty?

Rebecca: It's all about what problem are you solving for your customer. Before you send an email, a push notification, a text — what problem is your customer having and how are you solving it for them? As you continue to solve problems, you become reliable, and that builds loyalty. In terms of trends: you have to be on top of what's moving, but you also have to know who you are. A viral trend that doesn't suit you? Steer clear. And anything negative we stay away from — one of our core values is to radiate positivity.

Abhijeet: Two contemporary fashion brand leaders who inspire you?

Rebecca: Sarah Blakely of Spanx — she started out of a room in her house and built a mega empire. I follow her closely on LinkedIn. And Emma Grede, the brains behind Skims and Good American — she's grown those businesses so they're not just influencer-backed but have really solid business principles behind them and run profitably. Two women I truly look up to.