Four Peaks, One Partner: An Inside Look at How Barrett Scales With SCOUT, Every Peak

Megan Krauss • October 23, 2026

Most brands brace for one peak season a year. The holidays hit, volume spikes and everyone holds their breath until January.

SCOUT Bags does it four times. Yes, that's right, four times...

For 22 years, the family-owned brand has built a loyal following with bold prints, practical totes and a sense of fun you can spot from across a parking lot. What you can't see from the outside is the operation it takes to keep those bags moving, especially when a new collection drops.

Four Launches. Four Peaks.

SCOUT releases four major seasonal collections every year. Each one is a full go-to-market event, with roughly 250 documented steps behind it across the organization.

When a collection goes live, the warehouse has to ship more than 120,000 units in about two weeks. Then it settles back into everyday demand, until the next launch comes around.

That rhythm creates challenges most brands never face:

Two seasons on the floor at once. The next collection arrives while the current one is still selling, so inventory for both has to be received, stored and picked side by side.
Two demand patterns at once. More than half of SCOUT's DTC assortment is evergreen, while wholesale runs on the seasonal calendar. The operation has to serve both without either one slowing down.
Peaks on a nontraditional calendar. Staffing can't just ramp up for Q4. It has to flex around SCOUT's launch dates.
Many channels with different rules. SCOUT sells DTC, on Amazon, through 1,500+ retailers, to key accounts and through corporate gifting. Each channel has its own requirements.

And SCOUT plans well past the next drop. The team updates a five-year plan every year and maps its supply chain 18 to 24 months out. They needed a fulfillment partner that could keep pace with where the brand is headed, not just where it is today.

Built to Flex, Launch After Launch

Barrett built SCOUT's omnichannel operation around one idea: the warehouse has to move as fast as the brand does.

Multiple pick fronts and flexible staffing let the team scale labor and throughput for each launch window, then shift back for everyday orders.
A Single-Line Single-Unit (SLSU) quick-ship solution keeps single-item orders moving fast.
A Flex-Wall sorting system handles more complex, multi-line orders.
Paccurate cartonization technology picks the right box and speeds up pack-out.
In-house embroidery, monogramming and patch sewing support DTC personalization and SCOUT Select, the brand's corporate gifting and customization business.

Location matters too. Barrett's operation sits near SCOUT's Washington, D.C. headquarters and the Port of Baltimore, keeping the teams close and inbound freight moving into Mid-Atlantic and Northeast markets.

The Results

Through every launch, SCOUT has maintained 99.6% DTC on-time shipping. That's while moving 120,000+ units in a two-week window and keeping the rest of the business running.

With Barrett handling physical fulfillment, SCOUT's internal team spends less time troubleshooting orders and chargebacks and more time on customers. They've hit the customer service standards they set for themselves and continue to maintain them. They've also had room to sharpen NetSuite processes, automate manual work and open doors to B2B, drop ship and expanded EDI.

Kate Hanlan Kegan, President of SCOUT Bags, put it simply:

"The biggest impact has really been supporting scale. In the past, we would have had to turn opportunities down. Having the ability to say yes to more has been really advantageous for us."

Hear It From SCOUT

Kate sat down with Barrett Distribution Centers, Inc .’s Partnerships and Product Marketing Manager, Katherine Wroth, to share what it took to find a partner who could handle seasonal chaos and scale with SCOUT for years ahead.

The Flexibility to Keep Saying Yes

Four peaks a year would break a lot of fulfillment operations. For SCOUT, it's just how the calendar works. With an operation built to flex, the brand can keep launching, keep customizing and keep saying yes to whatever comes next.

Is your brand's calendar a little less traditional? Let's talk about building an operation that scales with you. Start a conversation with Barrett Distribution Centers.

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