Shapermint is using two Los Angeles-area stores to test whether its online business can translate into a larger branded-store presence. The New York-based company, which began selling online in 2018, opened its first two stores at Valencia Town Center in Santa Clarita on Oct. 24 and Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance on Nov. 6, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. The openings mark a move into its own stores, not Shapermint’s first in-person retail availability.
According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, the two stores are strategically designated testing sites ahead of a potential national expansion. Shapermint started its shapewear business through e-commerce channels in 2018 and has since cultivated a 14 million customer base, the outlet reports. The company already sells its products in more than 5,000 retail locations, including Walmart and Nordstrom, and counts roughly 700,000 existing customers in California alone.
As reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal, both new locations provide professional bra-fitting services and stock a full assortment of Shapermint's products, giving shoppers a hands-on alternative to the brand's online storefront. Brand director Gabrielle Richards said the company was ready to expand its physical presence, and that the stores will provide retail lessons the Business Journal described her calling “instrumental” in further scaling the business. “Everything that we do is based on data and research,” Richards said, per the same account.
Why California, Why Now
Richards told the Business Journal that California made sense as a starting point because Shapermint already has a substantial customer community there. The reported 700,000 California customers give the company an existing audience as it assesses the stores.
The stores arrive on the heels of a broader retail push. Shapermint announced a major expansion into 1,600 additional Walmart stores nationwide in June, according to a GlobeNewswire release, and brand director Gabrielle Richards said separately that Shapermint was on track to hit about $10 million in sales on TikTok Shop alone, as reported by Modern Retail.
Betting on Sizing as Rivals Pull Back
Shapermint targets women ages 35 to 65. Richards told the Business Journal the brand plans to offer a broad size range in stores, contrasting that approach with reports of other brands reducing some sizes in physical retail. She said customers across sizes need foundational garments.
Modern Retail's reporting adds texture to the brand's digital momentum: Shapermint worked with more than 5,000 active creators in TikTok Shop's affiliate network, and 60% of its top-performing affiliate creators were older than 35. The outlet also noted month-over-month sales growth on the platform climbing as high as 515%.
A Crowded Shapewear Field
Shapermint is stepping into a local market that already includes Kim Kardashian's Skims Body Inc., the Business Journal notes. Skims recently opened its first Utah store at City Creek mall in Salt Lake City, a shop that, according to Axios, specializes in bodysuits, loungewear and underwear available in neutral colors and a wide range of sizes.
The scale of that competition traces back further than either brand's current store counts suggest. Shapermint captured about 20% of the market in the 12 months leading up to November 2020, according to The NPD Group, while Glossy separately reported the brand's share for that same period at 20.4%, also citing NPD. Glossy additionally reported that the U.S. shapewear market, valued at $350 million, experienced a decline at the outset of the pandemic, according to NPD. The Business Journal reports that Shapermint had surpassed $250 million in sales, per NPD figures.
Other shapewear brands have tested stores
Shapermint is not the only shapewear brand to move from online or other retail channels into its own physical location. TODAY reported that Spanx opened its first standalone store on Nov. 2 at Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia, a separate store opening from Shapermint’s.Online-first bra brand ThirdLove also tested a temporary in-person concept: Retail Dive reported that its New York City store, set to open July 24, 2019, devoted more than 60% of its space to fitting rooms.
The Santa Clarita and Torrance locations give Shapermint a chance to learn how shoppers respond to its own stores while the company continues selling through other retailers and online. Whether those lessons lead to stores elsewhere in the country remains to be seen.
