Dive Brief:
- As part of its omnichannel expansion strategy, DTC menswear brand True Classic has launched at 460 Target stores nationwide.
- Consumers will be able to purchase the brand’s Short Sleeve Classic Crew in black white, navy, carbon and military green, according to a press release emailed to Retail Dive. The launch into stores comes after the brand first introduced a small selection of T-shirts on Target’s website in October, Ben Yahalom, CEO of True Classic, said in an email.
- The shirts are priced at $29.99 for a single, with three-packs priced at $59.99 and six-packs priced at $99.99, according to Target’s website.
Dive Insight:
Founded in 2019 with a $3,000 investment by Ryan Bartlett, Nick Ventura, and Matthew Winnick, True Classic built its brand based around its hero T-shirts and has since expanded into a range of categories including tops, bottoms, activewear, lifestyle and accessories. The privately held company has seen its revenues reach nearly $500 million since launching, according to Yahalom.
This partnership with Target builds out the brand’s wholesale network, which also includes Kohl’s and Amazon.
“Our ultimate goal with wholesale is to be more accessible for our customers,” Yahalom said. “By launching in over 400 Target locations nationwide, we’ll be able to gauge how our customers respond to the new retail channel, along with seeing how our products resonate among Target’s broader customer base.”
The partnership also comes as True Classic works to build out its own fleet of stores. In just over one year, the brand opened nine brick-and-mortar outlets, and it plans for more in 2025.
“Since launching True Classic’s first retail location in 2023, we’ve seen incredible demand from our customers who want to experience our brand in a hands-on way,” Yahalom said in a statement. “In entering a new phase of distribution in partnership with Target, we’re thrilled that we can continue to expand True Classic’s retail footprint, ensuring that each of our customers has easy access to our high-quality apparel at accessible prices.”
Yahalom said the Target partnership has the potential to grow, noting that “once we gauge the response from this initial launch, deepen our assortment.”
Wholesale continues to be the most profitable investment channel for brands, according to a NuOrder report earlier this year.
