Dive Brief:
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Eloquii on Wednesday day unveiled its first New York City pop-up in the city's SoHo shopping district, the company told Retail Dive in an email. The area was chosen in part by customers: 22% of Eloquii New York-based customers said SoHo is their "dream shopping location, with Midtown being the second most requested NY shopping neighborhood," the company also said.
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The 2,500-square-foot pop-up, which runs through December 31, will provide complimentary personal styling, "Beauty and Brunch Sundays" and other events with the brand's New York-based team, including its creative director, designers, fit technicians and others.
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The opening follows an expansion of the online apparel brand's brick-and-mortar footprint, with stores in Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Miami and Pentagon City, Virginia, the company said. The brand — originally launched in 2011 by The Limited and then revived in 2014 by former Limited employees as an online pure play — was bought by Walmart in October for a reported $100 million.
Dive Insight:
Eloquii was among the few stylish brands catering to women in search of inclusive sizing, a segment that several players, including Nordstrom and Target, more recently have also begun to pay attention to.
The brand first announced a brick-and-mortar strategy last year and is likely benefiting from the wealth of new parent Walmart to further it. Its first store, in an empty The Limited location following that retailer's bankruptcy and closure, was opened amid the buzz of a "retail apocalypse" that has mostly died down as retail sales have rebounded.
The brand, which offers styles at various price points in sizes 14 to 28, has offices in Columbus and New York. It debuts new collections monthly and creates personalized marketing through social media and content on its own site.
The plus-size market accounted for 17% of the U.S. women's apparel market in 2015, according to NPD Group's Consumer Tracking Service. U.S. sales of women's plus-size apparel, which includes plus-size/full-figure, petite plus and junior plus sizes rose 5% in the 12 months ending February 2015 to $19.8 billion, and 3% in the 12 months ending February 2016 to $20.4 billion, NPD found.
"Planted on the corner of Prince & Wooster Street near renowned fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Birchbox, Rayban, H&M among others, the [pop-up] is one of the only stores in SoHo dedicated to providing fashion to sizes 14+," the company said. The store sports an oversized "New York is Always a Good Idea" on one wall and a festive "Merry Everything" on another for shoppers to pose against for selfies.
