Archive for category: Fash-News
Fashionable Efforts Smudge Amazon’s Standing as the “WalMart of the Web”
Since the start of ecommerce as a major distribution method in American retail, Amazon has been an important player in various categories, namely books and electronics. In recent years, the company has expanded with Zappos and Shopbop in an effort to arrive on the fashion ecommerce scene and be the first destination in shoppers’ minds as to where to scoop up great deals on exactly what they want. With the one year anniversary of Amazon’s flash sale site, MyHabit, approaching this month, the ecommerce giant is looking to delve further into the heart of the fashion world and be viewed as a competitive source for apparel and accessories.
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Gift Cards Made Easy
Deciding on the perfect gift can be one of the hardest things to do; especially for someone who is very picky or hard to please. Gift cards have become the best alternative, whereas it makes shopping for the giver easy and more than likely pleases the receiver. Giving gift cards as presents for special occasions has become a very big part of American culture. Wouldn’t it be convenient to be able to buy and load gift cards online? Well, that has become a reality with the debut of Wrapp in the U.S.!
Wrapp has recently launched in the U.S. after becoming successful in Sweden and across Europe. Wrapp’s mobile and web service allows you to buy gift cards for friends via Facebook. The card can then be redeemed via the Wrapp mobile app in stores. Once a gift card is purchased, your Facebook friends can conveniently add more funds to it, and Wrapp also offers free gift cards as part of targeted retailer campaigns. Wrapp gift cards can only be redeemed via smartphones, which prevents the card(s) from ever being lost
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Are you looking for a site where you can shop for millions of brands and items? If you answered yes, 23rd.com is the perfect new online store to bookmark!
23rd.com has launched with famous designer and founding investor Rachel Zoe. The new e-commerce site features moderately priced brands such as DSW or Billabong along with high-end brands such as Alexander McQueen and Chanel.
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Currently almost everything we own is made overseas, mainly in China. In most cases the quality of products have been compromised, and not to mention that the manufacturing industry in America is almost nonexistent. With the birth of American Giant this is all about to change. American Giant is a startup offering affordable, American-made apparel for men. The company launched at the beginning of February with a line of sweatshirts. After receiving overwhelming positive word-of-mouth, their first shipment sold out in a week! In mid-April the company expanded with the launch of a new t-shirt line.
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of interviewing founder and CEO of American Giant, Bayard Winthrop. Growing up Mr. Winthrop had an interest in finance and focused on getting a job on Wall Street. After working on Wall Street for a few years he decided to move to San Francisco and transition into the apparel industry. With twenty years of industry experience under his belt, including the position of former CEO of Chrome (A messenger bag company), Bayard Winthrop decided that it was time to start his own company.
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Etsy is the go to sight for vintage-loving DIYers looking for all things crafty, original and sold by independent vendors. Since 2005, the online marketplace has established over 800,000 online storefronts with 13 million items for sale. In a recent change of strategies, Etsy has acquired Trunkt, which specializes in wholesaling the same type of merchandise. While the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Adam Brown, Etsy’s head of PR, details that the acquisition is “an investment in a really talented person who has a deep understanding of an area of business that impacts a number of our sellers.” The Trunkt operation is essentially a one-person show.
There is no information on how Etsy plans to leverage the new platform; however, they’ve already availed it to vendors who wholesale their goods. To date, the ecommerce giant has earned $51.7M in funding and sales for March alone reached nearly $63M. The main concern of Etsy lovers about this new venture is that the site known for unique specialty items will sell out into a mainstream ecommerce site like so many others. However, Brown reassures site fans saying, “If and when we do pursue wholesale tools on Etsy, it will be in service of bringing new channels to existing Etsy sellers to meet their needs, not working with large manufacturers.”
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When looking for prescription glasses that are both stylish and good quality consumers have often been discouraged by hefty price tags. In early 2011 this problem was solved by a new startup company named Warby Parker. Four MBA students at Wharton School in Philadelphia all have experience the problems with finding eyewear that both fits their individual styles and are of good quality. After endless nights of brainstorming and combining their diverse experience, Neil Blunethal, Andrew Hunt, Jeffrey Raider and David Giboa founded Warby Parker.
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An Online Store Dedicated to One-of-a-Kind Luxury Goods
If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind high-end alligator iPad cover, Ahalife is the site for you! Ahalife is an online store dedicated to providing its shoppers with unique, high-end items that can’t be found in stores. The site just received $10.1 million in its second round of funding, from leading investor Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce company, and returning investors DCM and FirstMark Capital.
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Skinny Britches, Booty-Booster, Trust Your Thinstincts, Bra-Cha-Cha. Spanx, a brand that is seen as quirky and fun upon which Saturday Night Live skits have been based (Baby Spanx, Pet Spanx), is really a brand with a serious mission. By changing silhouettes, Spanx is also shaping lives by making women and men more self-confident with higher self-esteem boosting their ability to be all that they can be. Defining a brand is not an easy exercise but is extremely powerful when the brand’s functional and emotional benefits are clearly defined. Spanx, which will do close to $250 million in revenues this year, has done this and more for both its consumers as well as for its CEO, Laurie Ann Goldman and its founder Sara Blakely.
On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to interview Laurie Ann Goldman before she presented to an audience of 125 women at the Jewish Federation of Delaware Women’s Philanthropy Women of Wisdom (WOW) Event and Luncheon. Ms. Goldman shared with me that she was on the fast track at Coca-Cola running the licensing division of the company with sales of approximately $1 Billion and licensing partnerships in 54 countries. Ms. Goldman looks back on her time at Coca-Cola with warmth and disbelief. After her first son was born, Ms. Goldman was in the Coca-Cola board room two days later presenting her division’s business plan to the board. After her second son was born, Ms. Goldman needed to be in Japan for the Olympics but her son was being breast fed. Being a hard charging problem solver, she met with the Minute Maid frozen concentrate team and developed a solution with them of getting her breast milk back from Japan in frozen form to her son. Apparently this story is still shared to this day within Coca-Cola!!
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Philadelphia-based Versa Capital Management LLC has announced the completion of their acquisition of The United Retail Group. On October 19, 2011, the chain of plus-size women’s apparel filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and has been in proceedings since February.
United Retail was founded in 1987 when Limited Brands Inc. combined Lerner Women stores with Sizes Unlimited store group. The consolidated chain was formed in 1989 and renamed United Retail Group. After other retailers noticed the potential in the plus-size market more lines began to emerge. The company decided to go public in 1992. The United Retail Group is currently known for their popular chain called Avenue Stores. Current competitors for the United Retail Group are Dillards department store, Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Catherines Stores Corporation (just to name a few).
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Facebook Acquires Instagram for $1 Billion in Cash and Stock
Facebook has announced the acquisition of free photo sharing app, Instagram. The app allows users of all skill levels to take pictures via the iPhone or Android platform, then edit the photos with various filters and effects, and share the creative final products on the Instagram platform, Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms.
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