'We don't want to be everything to everyone': W&P president Kate Lubenesky on evolving a modern kitchen brand

For the kitchen brand W&P, it's been a good time for the home products space.

This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, W&P president Kate Lubenesky spoke about how the company has evolved and grown. "We had great growth in 2020 and 2021," she said.

W&P first launched 10 years ago with its first product: a mason jar-inspired cocktail shaker. Now, the company has expanded a great deal, with hundreds of different products including cups, cutting boards, cocktail kits and ziplock bag alternatives. "We've really refined our point-of-view to be equal parts function and design," said Lubenesky. With that, W&P has figured out exactly what its brand voice is; "We don't want to be everything to everyone... we're really singularly focused on kitchen products."

Lubenesky joined the company in early 2020, right before the pandemic began. She hailed from kitchen product stalwarts like Oxo. "When I walked into the door, we were really at this fantastic inflection point as a business where we had this great portfolio of products that was really starting to click and hum in the marketplaces and with our retailers, like Crate and Barrel, Sur La Table, William Sonoma and just all these wonderful culinary retailers," she said. But then, of course, the coronavirus spread around the world and changed everyone's plans.

Even so, W&P was able to switch revenue gears and continue growing. Many wholesale accounts -- including independent gift shops and department stores like Nordstrom -- had to pull back on their partnership with W&P in early 2020. But other sales channels began to grow. The brand's Amazon sales, for example, went through the roof. Additionally, W&P's corporate gifting revenue skyrocketed.

"Having that really healthy platform -- and a balance -- allowed us to thrive in 2020," said Lubenesky.

Now, the company is focused on growing even more. That includes inking more wholesale partnerships -- if, of course, the retailers are a good fit. And there's also always product expansion.

"We're really focused on product development and innovating and inventing new categories that consumers aren't even aware of that they need," Lubenesky said.