In episode 237 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Steven Borelli, founder and CEO, and Carter Shae, director of finance, both of Cuts Clothing, an online men's apparel brand that's the first to accessorize the basic tee. Listen in as Borelli and Shae share why Cuts Clothing was founded, the brand's history, and how the two began working together. They detail how product returns quickly became a challenge as Cuts Clothing grew, and why they felt the need to find a scalable solution to help manage returns and inventory planning.
Borelli and Shae discuss how they researched various returns solutions, why Cuts Clothing decided to work with Happy Returns, and how it's improved the customer experience for the company's shoppers. They share how Cuts Clothing customers are using Happy Returns, with options to either return by mail or a visit to a Returns Bar near them to make the product return in person. Lastly, Borelli and Shae detailed the main benefits Cuts Clothing has realized from its partnership with Happy Returns, including positive customer feedback, an increased customer retention rate, improved exchange rate, and more, as well as their plans to continue to grow the business.
Steven Borelli was working at The Lambesis Agency when he noticed that men needed plain, minimalist shirts they could come back to time after time and were professional enough to wear to the office. In 2015, he moved back home with the goal of creating “the only shirt worth wearing” — a shirt that would bridge the gaps between lifestyle fashion, athletic culture, and business apparel. After raising $40K through Kickstarter in just one month, Cuts officially introduced its Shopify store in August 2017 with no investments outside of friends and family. Steven earned his Bachelor’s degree in business with an emphasis in marketing from San Diego State University.
Carter Shae joined Cuts in 2018 as director of finance. Aside from finance, he oversees all aspects of HR, customer experience, and logistics. Carter has extensive experience in business strategy across multiple categories and disciplines. In his early career, he worked at Big 4 accounting firm PwC, eventually moving on to his most recent role at a large healthcare system, where he managed a $1 billion budget. Carter earned his Bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from Washington State University, and his Master’s in accounting from the University of Washington.
