DEATH OF PUREPLAY RETAIL

INTELLIGENCE REPORT DEATH OF PUREPLAY RETAIL FLASH OF GENIUS

A Shift in Strategy Blank Label

Death of Pureplay Retail: Blank Label Website Traffic Unique Monthly Visitors September 2013—September 2015

Founded in 2009, Blank Label spent four years as an online-only custom menswear shop. In 2013, the retailer opened a small showroom in Boston and saw shipments quadruple, with 60 percent of sales coming from in-store orders. 50 Blank Label’s first store generated $100,000 per month, equivalent to $1,333 per square foot in annual revenues, 51 and saw 10-15 percent sales increases month-to-month. 52 Given this success, the evolved retailer began to expand its physical presence, opening a second, larger location in Boston in June 2014, and another store in Washington DC in August 2015. Following the Boston store opening, the brand saw a steady increase in website traffic from just over 3,000 unique visitors in May 2014 to a high of more than 30,000 unique visitors in October 2014. In-store sales rose to $1,500 per square foot in 2015, and have grown by 50 percent each year for the last two years. 53 In August 2015, Blank Label announced plans to open ten more stores over the next two years. Blank Label’s in-store success has translated to more than just better marketing—accounting for more than half of Blank Label’s sales, the stores are also justifying their existence in terms of profitability.

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Second Store Opens in Boston

Unique Monthly Visitors

10k

0k

Dec. 2013

Jun. 2014

Dec. 2014

Jun. 2015

Sep. 2013

Mar. 2014

Sep. 2014

Mar. 2015

Sep. 2015

Source: Compete.

Death of Pureplay Retail: Blank Label Brick-and-Mortar Expansion September 2013—2015

50. “ Custom men’s wear shop on expansion track ,” CNBC, June 29, 2014. 51. “ Blank Label’s Brick-and-Mortar Leap ,” Chain Store Age, August 27,2014. 52. “ Custom men’s wear shop on expansion track ,” CNBC, June 29, 2014. 53. “ Lessons from Bringing an Online Brand into its First Retail Locations ,” Forbes, August 27, 2015.

Spring 2013

Jun. 2014

Apr. 2015

Aug. 2015

“Having a physical footprint is the most ROI effective form of marketing. Take what you spend in online banner, search and email ads, and offline print, boards, etc., and place it into opening experimental stores where … you’ll have a better return on your investment.” Fan Bi - Blank Label, CEO

Announces $1.1 million funding round to expand stores

Opens first store in Boston

Opens larger store in Boston

Opens store in D.C.

Source: “ Blank Label Raises $1.1M, Sets Sights on Brick-and-Mortar Expansion ,” BostInno, April 22, 2015.

Source: L2 Intelligence Report: Death of Pureplay Retail, January 2016.

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January 12, 2016