Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Alison Loehnis via Telegraph UK
Net-A-Porter's managing director, Alison Loehnis, told Mashable that the luxury e-tailer is not planning to open a brick-and-mortar store in the near future. She explained, "We never say never to that question, or to most questions. But we have no plans for it." Believable considering this comes from the company that's confident it's customer will drop $50,000 on a dress without so much as feeling the fabric.
They're holding out whereas other e-tailers like Bonobos, Warby Parker, and Piperlime have bowed to physical stores and "showrooms," and the mere thought of Amazon opening a store sends shudders of horror through the fashion industry.
But Alison notes that brick-and-mortar "not our business. We are an e-commerce business. The road map of all the stuff we have ahead—it's all product proposition." Childrenswear, for example, which has been a twinkle in Net-a-Porter's eye since at least 2010, when they registered for the domain name "petite-a-porter.com." What else is coming? Home decor, possibly. "I get asked about home all the time—I'll just leave it out there, say, 'watch the space.'"
· Net-a-Porter Looking to Expand Into Kids, Not Stores [Mashable]
· Bonobos Founder No Longer Believes in Online-Only Retail Model [Racked]