Bombas, the comfort focused sock and apparel brand with a mission, known for its “one purchased = one donated” model for socks, underwear, and t-shirts, is opening its first flagship store in NYC. And that’s just the beginning. The brand will follow the NYC opening with store launches in Boca Raton and Austin before the end of the year.
Expanding Wholesale Partnerships with Target and DSW as well
As Forbes reports, in another move to meet customers where they already shop for these basics – about 65% of socks purchases are made in brick-and-mortar retail – it is expanding wholesale partnerships as well. Starting this holiday, Target will carry a selection of Bombas socks, and DSW will become its first retail partner devoted to its growing line of footwear.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Bombas to Target this fall, bringing guests a beloved brand known for its comfort, quality and purpose-driven mission,” shared Gena Fox, Target’s senior vice president of merchandising for apparel and accessories. “As guests look for newness and trusted favorites, Bombas adds even more cozy, feel-good and stylish essentials to discover in Target stores and on Target.com.”
“When you’re selling a $15 sock, customers sometimes want to see and touch the product before they make the purchase,” says new President Jason LaRose, and inevitably, once they make that first purchase, they come back for more.
Currently, wholesale accounts for less than 10% of revenues and the aim is to grow it to about 20% over the next few years. Target is a good fit for its socks and with DSW, which LaRose calls the expert in footwear retail, the company expects continued expansion of its slippers and casual everyday slides business. After entering the category in 2021, footwear already accounts for about 20% of company revenues and LaRose sees only growth ahead. “Our customers have trusted us for comfort around feet for some time now and they just keep asking us to do more and more,” he said.
Shark Tank and Mission First Focus
This strategic move aims to grow its brick-and-mortar footprint, reach more customers, and ultimately amplify its charitable impact on homeless shelters.
Bombas was founded by entrepreneurs Randy Goldberg and David Heath in 2013, as they sought to create a company with real meaning behind it, beyond just making money. They hit upon the core socks idea when they found out that homeless shelter guests were most in need of socks.
They set out to create sock brand with unmatched quality and comfort that could command a premium price to allow a one-for-one donation to shelters. After early fundraising efforts via crowdfunding, friends and family, the pair appeared on Shark Tank in September 2014 and won the backing of Daymond John.
The brand has since gone on to become the most successful venture in the TV show’s history, generating over $2 billion in lifetime sales and donating over 150 million socks, underwear and t-shirts to its 4,000 giving partners – underwear and t-shirts are the number two and three most requested shelter items after socks.
Given the founders’ mission first focus, the more successful the company is at selling socks and other products, the more successful it can be in fulfilling its mission.
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