Dive Brief:
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Online footwear and accessories retailer Sole Society has opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Santa Monica, CA.
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The move comes after Nordstrom and Insight Partners invested $8 million in the retailer to add to its leadership and expand its distribution channels.
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The Los Angeles-based retailer was launched in 2011 as a pure-play e-commerce venture and began wholesaling to Nordstrom and a few other stores soon after.
Dive Insight:
Perhaps one of the reasons that e-commerce is still just 7.2% of total retail sales is that so many pure-play e-commerce retailers, including Warby Parker, Birchbox, Nasty Gal, and others have turned to brick-and-mortar to bolster their presence, test ideas, and boost sales.
“We want to be where the customer is,” Sole Society CEO Andy Solomon told Footwear News. “It makes sense for us to express the brand and showcase our product [in a physical space], and it gives us a chance to meet new customers and get to know existing customers in a more intimate way.”
Like so many e-retailers, Sole Society has a firm grasp on digital operations, and includes an in-store kiosk that makes its entire online inventory available to in-store customers, who can opt for different shipping options for items not in the store.
The store will also feature items from other brands not necessarily found on the website.
Solomon told Footwear News that the Santa Monica, CA store will inform the company about whether and how to add more physical stores, and that its sales through Nordstrom are growing.
