SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rent the Runway, Inc., the company that created dynamic ownership and clothing rental as an essential utility in women’s lives with the world’s first living closet, announced today the opening of their West Coast Flagship at 228 Grant Avenue in San Francisco, CA. Opening on May 8, 2019, the 8,300 square foot, two-floor location reimagines the modern day retail “store” by bringing the ultimate dream closet to life.
The second and third floors of 228 Grant are beautifully designed and curated for Rent the Runway subscribers, customers and the broader San Francisco community. The second floor features the majority of the store’s clothing and accessories and will serve as the hub for RTR Unlimited Members, stocked with more than 3,000 items merchandised on a daily rotation, ranging from casual to business attire, festive to weekend wear, accessories and more. The floor also features appointment fitting rooms for RTR Reserve customers to try on and rent dresses for special events and formal occasions.
The third, upper floor serves as a lounge and co-working space featuring RTR’s first-ever “Beauty Bar” as well brand’s first communal dressing room, designed to cultivate community through clothes with the physical manifestation of the shared closet in a spacious try-on experience that supports social interaction. Rent the Runway will host unique programming and networking events in the space specifically catered to women, highlighting its strong and diverse member community across industry, age, and demographic, spotlight peers in the entrepreneurial and tech community, allow for like-minded brands to pop-up, and serve as a comfortable space for those who need a place to work or relax during the day.
The new flagship location is a massively expanded dream closet and RTR’s largest store to date with more than 20 fitting rooms, making it even easier for customers to swap and try-on rentals. San Francisco is RTR’s third largest subscription market, with more than 55% of subscribers in the market using the store today.
In addition to unlocking the convenience for subscribers and serving as an extension of customers’ own closets, the new store will have new perks including:
- Beauty bar exclusively featuring Dyson hair care technology, including fan-favorites the Dyson Supersonic™ Hair Dryer and Dyson Airwrap™ styler, Amika hair products, and Juice Beauty skincare products to make getting ready on-the-go even easier;
- Complimentary coffee bar with refreshments provided exclusively by Australian café cult-favorite, Bluestone Lane;
- Communal fitting room experience, designed for ease of try-on and continuing to foster community among members;
- Work and lounge spaces, featuring furniture from West Elm, with free WiFi for our members who need a place to relax in between work, home and going out;
- Self-service check-out and drop-off stations, created and placed for convenience;
- Instant service pick-up window to dramatically increase the speed at which members are able to pick up their orders in-store - one of RTR’s most popular services.
The flagship was designed by Alda Ly Architecture and Hilary Koyfman, an all-female design team that also collaborated on The Wing and Parsley Health. The team brought their expertise in creating community-oriented spaces designed for the modern woman, creating an environment that maximizes convenience for the busy RTR subscriber while also creating a feeling of comfort and community for the SF customer.
As with RTR’s four other physical locations around the country, the new store has been built with Rent the Runway’s proprietary technology powering the store experience to enable a seamless experience for customers. Tech-first experiences include RTR Drop-off, which allows customers to return rented items within a few seconds, RTR Self-Service check-out, which enable subscribers to check out with their RTR Pass on their phone, and the new RTR Pick-Up Station, which allows customers to pick up orders without having to wait in line.
In honor of the launch, San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed will participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new RTR Flagship on launch day, May 8. To continue the celebration that evening, Rent the Runway will host a panel for members featuring RTR COO Maureen Sullivan, Rothy’s President & COO Kerry Cooper, Levi’s CMO Jen Sey, Allbirds CMO Julie Channing and ThredUp Head of Brand Jenna Bray, moderated by Business of Fashion reporter Elizabeth Holmes.
Images of the SF Flagship can be found HERE.
About Rent the Runway
Rent the Runway is transforming the way modern women get dressed and disrupting the $2.4 trillion global fashion industry by enabling women to rent, versus buy, clothing. Founded in 2009 with a vision to build the world’s first living closet, RTR believes that women everywhere will soon have a subscription to fashion. By creating a new model of dynamic ownership, RTR has made apparel rental an indispensable utility while also empowering women to feel their best every day. RTR carries apparel, accessories and home decor from over 600 designer partners and has built in-house proprietary technology and a one-of-a-kind reverse logistics operation. RTR has five retail stores of the future, 11 million community members and employs nearly 1,800 people, all of whom have equal benefits across the organization, 93% of whom are female and/or non-white, with 80% of leaders who are women.