Most brands spend their energy chasing the same handful of big box buyers. It makes sense on the surface: the accounts are large, the retailers are recognizable, and the process is familiar. But there is a channel hiding in plain sight that most brands are systematically underestimating: independent retail.
There are an estimated 2.7 million independent retailers in the U.S. Faire, the wholesale platform purpose-built to serve them, expects to hit nearly $3 billion in gross merchandise volume in 2025, with over 40% year-over-year growth in Q3 alone.
The reason most brands overlook this channel is friction. Historically, reaching independent retailers meant working a trade show circuit, cold calling store owners, or building a field sales team that most emerging brands can't afford. The discovery process was slow, the payment terms were inconsistent, and there was no reliable way to scale. So brands defaulted to chasing big box buyers instead.
Faire is changing that equation.
Founded in 2016, Faire is a wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers with brands. The platform offers retailers net 60 payment terms while paying brands upfront, taking on the credit risk so brands don't have to. It also provides free returns on opening orders and handles discovery for both sides of the transaction. In short, it removes most of the friction that made the independent channel so hard to work with efficiently.
Faire is now annualizing at more than $500 million in revenue with over 40% year-over-year growth in Q3 2025, and expects to hit nearly $3 billion in gross merchandise value for the year. The company recently reached a $5.2 billion valuation.
The growth numbers tell a clear story: brands and independent retailers are both showing up. Faire's net dollar retention is above 110%, meaning retailers on the platform are spending more each year, not just staying flat. P.F. Candle Co. recently crossed 5,000 stores through Faire alone. That is a distribution footprint that would have taken years to build through traditional wholesale outreach.
The platform's CEO, Max Rhodes, noted something worth paying attention to: only about 5% of the hundreds of billions spent annually by U.S. retailers sourcing inventory happens online. The B2B wholesale market is still overwhelmingly offline. For brands paying attention, that gap is an opportunity.
What this means for brands thinking about distribution.
The independent retail channel rewards differentiated products. A gift shop, a specialty toy store, a boutique wellness retailer: these buyers are not looking for the same thing as a Target buyer. They want unique, conversation-starting products that give their customers a reason to come back. That specificity is both a filter and an advantage: the brands that fit this channel tend to fit it very well.
We see this firsthand. One of our brand partners does significant business through Faire. The platform gives them access to a curated pipeline of independent retail buyers who are actively looking for exactly the kind of unexpected, high-quality products our clients offer. The match is almost self-selecting.
For brands that have been waiting for the right moment to take independent retail seriously, the infrastructure is now in place. The channel is large, growing, and increasingly easy to access. The question is whether you have a product worth putting in front of it.