Seven Retail Brands Ready for Prime Time
For all their differences, the shopping center owners and brokers from around the world who will gather at the end of May in Las Vegas for retail real estate’s annual RECon confab are alike in they will all be on the lookout for new retail concepts to entice shoppers.
The good news is that are plenty of brands ready to spread their wings. Some have been around for a couple of years, but are now flush with new financing. But many are formerly pure players that are now turning their attention to physical stores.
None of the brands listed below are what you could call household names — at least not yet. But they show plenty of potential for prime time retail. Take a look:
Adore Me
The fast-growing online lingerie retailer targets young women with its low prices, wide variety of styles and personalized shopping experiences that offer a curated lingerie “showroom” tailored to each customer’s specific style and size preferences.
Taking a cue from the likes of Warby Parker and Bonobos, it’s now testing how to recreate the experience in the physical space, opening an appointment-only store at its Manhattan headquarters.
Duluth Trading Co.
Duluth Holdings built its brand online and now, fresh off its move public, the apparel retailer sees the potential for as many as 100 Duluth Trading Co. stores. Duluth describes itself as a lifestyle workwear brand for the modern, self-reliant American.
Stores are engaging and entertaining, and each one has a theme, displays, photos and found objects that honor “hardworking” men and women past and present.
Flying Tiger
The Danish retailer sells an eclectic mix of quirky and colorful home goods, accessories and tchotchkes — much of it designed in house and priced under $15 — in a fun, maze-like format. It made its U.S. debut last summer, in Manhattan, where it recently opened a second location.
Kit and Ace
Co-founded by Shannon Wilson and son JJ Wilson, wife and son of Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson, the Canada-based company is best known for performance wear made from its proprietary “technical cashmere” fabric that can be tossed into a washer and dryer. Next up is a “technical silk” fabric.
The fast-growing, buzzed-about brand has a high coolness factor and is opening a series of pop-ups in collaboration with luxury hotels in major cities across the globe
NYX Cosmetics
The online cult makeup brand—often described as a MAC for the masses — went offline in September, and is quickly ramping up its mall presence with locations on both coasts.
NYX stores are a playground for beauty junkies, and combine digital technology with a hands-on self-learning environment that includes interactive makeup stations.
Sweaty Betty
This London-based Lululemon competitor has opened four stores in the U.S. to date. But the pricey brand, known for its fashion-forward, colorful stylings and in-store classes, is gearing up for growth across America. In December, it named former Bain & Co consultant Erika Serow as its U.S. CEO after receiving a new round of growth funding from private equity firm Catterton.
YogaSmoga
The made-in-America, Yoga-inspired athletic apparel retailer with an eco-consciousness is on a tear, online and off. With 14 stores nationwide, the brand has set a goal of 100 stores by 2018. It will open 25 stores this year, with locations in some of the nation’s top malls.
Positioned in the high-end of the athletic wear market, YogaSmoga develops and manufactures all its products in the United States, and utilizes “eco-conscious dyeing practices” to create its proprietary fabrics.