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E-tailers Complement Web Sites With Array Of Shops, Showrooms
Bonobos expands its "guideshop" concept, bringing in higher-spending, repeat customers.
On monday, e-tailer Bonobos opened its third "guideshop" in Palo Alto, Calif.
The showroom-cum-retail store allows customers to see and try on the full range of Bonobos suits, shirts and pants and order product from the Web site, via appointments with personal "guides." The Palo Alto location joins an existing shop in New York, which opened last year, and a Boston unit that opened in April, and Bonobos plans further openings in the months ahead.
Bonobos is the latest online retailer to join the brick-and-mortar world as sites aim to bring their brands to life outside the virtual world and allow customers hands-on interaction with product.
Gap Inc.'s Piperlime opened its first freestanding store in New York's SoHo neighborhood on Sept. 6. Unlike Bonobos, the store stocks inventory that can be purchased on the spot. The 4,000-square-foot space offers women's apparel, footwear and accessories, in addition to kiosks that link directly to a full range of men's and women's offerings on its Web site.
Prescription glasses e-tailer Warby Parker operates a showroom at its New York headquarters in the Puck Building that customers can visit to try on frames. The company has also installed eyeglass displays at 10 partner retail stores including Bird in Brooklyn, The Perish Trust in San Francisco, Shop Good in Oklahoma City and The Standard hotels in Los Angeles and Miami.
Pop-up shops have become a favorite gambit for online retailers dipping their toe into brick-and-mortar. In May, the fashion and home site Fab.com opened a temporary boutique in SoHo to coincide with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. In June, Mr Porter constructed a pop-up store in the Meatpacking District, dubbed Suits & Style, as part of an integrated promotion with USA Network's "Suits" series. The shop offered a range of accessories for immediate purchase and Microsoft Surface digital tabletops to shop...