Parachute, a born-digital bedding and bath brand, is expanding significantly into physical retail, two years after opening its first retail store in Venice, California.
In June, the company raised a $30 million second round of funding to fuel a much faster push into physical retail as it enters its fifth year in business. Last week, it added one permanent store in San Francisco and opened a pop-up in Chicago that’s set to run through Jan. 7. Parachute now has six physical stores, both permanent and temporary, in California, New York, Illinois and Oregon, and the plan is to have 20 stores by 2020. The company doesn’t share revenue figures, but claims that its online and physical stores are profitable.
“There are certain pros to being online-only — you can drive customer acquisition and sales at a velocity that doesn’t happen offline,” said Ariel Kaye, the CEO and founder of Parachute. “But to grow a real brand, especially in a product category that’s tactile, people like to experience it in their natural environment. There’s a human side to retail necessary to establish a real connection.”
