Dive Brief:
- Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage X Fenty is doubling its store footprint just months after opening its first physical store in Las Vegas, according to details emailed to Retail Dive.
- The Las Vegas location opened in January this year and was followed by stores in Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia and the Washington, D.C. area.
- Savage X Fenty is now expanding to an additional six locations: Chicago; Atlanta; Detroit; St. Louis; Long Island, New York; and Newark, Delaware.
Dive Insight:
Savage X Fenty is expanding its store footprint swiftly this year after entering the channel for the first time in January. The new store openings will put the lingerie brand’s footprint at 11.
Expanding into brick and mortar gives consumers a physical touchpoint with the brand to try on products and also serves as a means of raising brand awareness. Savage X Fenty’s Las Vegas store also featured an app-based fit experience to pair shoppers with products based on their size and shape.
Fit is a challenge across the apparel space, and bra fit in particular is an area retailers have tried to solve for. Fellow DTC brand ThirdLove, for example, has a fit finder tool to help shoppers determine the right band and cup for bras, while Wacoal (which acquired DTC brand Lively in 2019) rolled out a bra fit app last year.
At the beginning of the year, Savage X Fenty said its entrance into physical retail was the result of the company’s “incredible growth” and that having stores would allow for a more complete expression of the brand. The stores are also a means of interacting with customers who have only seen the company online.
“The direct-to-consumer experience connects the energy of the brand's highly engaged e-commerce site and social community to a vibrant space to discover, shop, and interact with Savage X Fenty,” the company said in its announcement on the new openings.
Entering physical retail is a growth tactic for many direct-to-consumer brands, but the strategy was largely put on hold when the pandemic started, pushing shoppers out of stores and online. Beginning last year and into 2022, however, DTC brands have picked up the pace on their physical footprints once more. Glossier returned to physical retail in the second half of last year, and opened its fourth store in March. Likewise, ThirdLove is pursuing growth in brick and mortar after the pandemic scuttled its plans, and jewelry brand Aurate is also returning to the channel.
