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Nuuly saw 150% growth over the holidays.
Nully has a new fulfillment center coming online. (Courtesy photo)
URBN is opening a new fulfillment center in Missouri for its apparel rental brand.
The news: The parent of Urban Outfitters will open a new fulfillment center in Raymore, Missouri. It will provide logistics for clothing rental brand Nuuly, which is a subscription service offering more than 15,000 styles from more than 300 brands.
What are the details?
The 604,000-square-foot facility is set to become the second U.S. fulfillment center for the brand, and also the second for URBN in the Kansas City region.
It represents a $60 million investment that will create 750 jobs in five years for the region.
The new facility will be located at Raymore Commerce Center, which was developed by VanTrust Real Estate.
Key quote: "Nuuly has experienced significant growth since our launch in 2019. We are excited to open our second U.S. fulfillment center to support our next phase of growth, and proud to work with the State of Missouri and the City of Raymore to bring new jobs to the Kansas City region," said Dave Hayne, Chief Technology Officer of URBN and President of Nuuly, in a statement.
Nuuly momentum: It comes after URBN released data showing Nuuly segment sales during the two holiday months increased 150% due to a 153% increase in subscribers as compared to the 2021 holiday season.
Rental growth: URBN has a portfolio that includes apparel brands such as Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People. Each of those are centered sales of new items. With Nuuly, it is layering in rental, as well as resale with the recently launched Nuuly Thrift. This opens up an avenue for clothes to be worn by one user, then recirculated. It also provides a subscription offering that creates recurring touchpoints (and revenue) with consumers. It’s a different approach for URBN, reflecting that the company is offering not only responding to demand for variation in what people want to buy, but how they want to buy it.
Owning the supply chain: Rental is a unique model that requires not only packing and shipping orders to go out, but also receiving them and preparing clothes to be worn again. Fulfillment is a particularly important part of the equation, and finding efficiency through processes and software is the avenue through which to build a profitable business. Given this, there are advantages to owning a fulfillment center as opposed to working with a third-party logistics provider.
Missouri as ecommerce hub: The new facility underscores that Missouri wants to become a prime location for ecommerce and distribution. Given its positioning in the center of the country, the state positions companies within 600 miles of 135+ million potential customers. A public-private economic development organization called the Missouri Partnership helps to create a friendly environment for businesses.
On the Move has hiring news from Walmart US, Etsy, commercetools and more.
Judy Werthauser. (Photo via LinkedIn)
This week, retailers are bringing on C-level talent in areas such as people, operations and transformation. Plus, Kohl’s appoints an activist investor’s choice for CEO, Fanatics taps a former Snap executive for livestream shopping and Etsy brings aboard Facebook’s former general counsel.
Tom Kingsbury was appointed CEO of Kohl’s. Kingsbury was named interim CEO in December upon the resignation of now-Levi’s President Michelle Gass. Now, Kingsbury will have the job on a permanent basis. Kingsbury served as CEO of Burlington Stores from 2008-2019. Kingsbury was nominated by activist investor Macellum Advisors, which was pushing for change at Kohl’s. With Kingsbury’s appointment as CEO, Macellum has agreed to a “multi-year standstill.”
Judy Werthauser was appointed chief people officer at Walmart U.S. Werthauser comes to the teen-focused retailer from Five Below, where she served as EVP and chief experience officer. Over her four-year tenure, the chain grew from about 750 stores to more than 1,300 locations. Werthauser also served on the board of BJ's Wholesale Club, and is now resigning from that position. “I am excited to work alongside the world-class Walmart U.S. team as they bring the purpose of building a better world – helping people live better and renewing the planet while building thriving, resilient communities – to life,” Werthauser wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Mike Brewer was named chief operating officer at Crate & Barrel Holdings, overseeing operations at Crate & Barrel, CB2, Crate & Kids and Hudson Grace. Brewer brings 20 years of experience from Nike, where he served in roles including sourcing, manufacturing and supply chain. Crate & Barrel said Brewer’s appointment was part of the home retailer’s “ongoing efforts to evaluate and alter its structure in ways that help support overall growth.”
Keith Melker. (Courtesy photo)
Keith Melker was appointed chief strategy and transformation officer at JCPenney. Melker comes to the department store retailer from Wehner Multifamily, where he served as CEO. He was also a previous chief strategy officer at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Melker will oversee the transformation office, which includes ownership of metrics such as profitable traffic, inventory management, digital growth and strategic partnerships. With this move, Katie Mullen will remain chief strategy officer.
Blaine Trainor is joining ecommerce software provider commercetools as VP of global partnerships and alliances. In the role, Trainor will lead the headless commerce company’s partnerships ecosystem, working with companies including Deloitte, CapGemini, AWS and Google Cloud. Trainor previously served in senior leadership roles at SAP over a 12-year tenure, and also held sales roles at hybris software and Sterling Commerce.
Nick Bell, a former Google and Snap executive, will lead a new livestream shopping division of Fanatics, Footwear News reported. Bell previously led the teams behind Google Search Experience, and served as VP and global head of content and partnerships at Snap Inc. Bell will lead the Fanatics Live division, which will launch a standalone app that is geared toward collectibles.
NIck Bell. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Colin Stretch was appointed chief legal officer at corporate secretary at Etsy, effective Feb. 14. Stretch previously served as general counsel at Facebook from 2013-2019. He then spent two years as leader in residence at Columbia University Law School's Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character & Leadership, and went on to the law firm Latham & Watkins.
"Colin's extensive experience will be critical to Etsy's efforts to ensure we remain a safe and trusted marketplace, broaden our reach across all our brands, and advocate for microbusinesses around the world,” said CEO Josh Silvermann, in a statement.