Trunk Club was a personalized mid- to high-end men's and women's clothing service based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, Illinois, United States.
From its start in 2009, Trunk Club pioneered the at-home try-on model within the men's clothing industry. Each customer worked with a styling specialist who curated clothing for their box (called a "trunk"), which was shipped to their home or office; the customer could then either keep the clothes or send items back to Trunk Club, with billing occurring at the end of the process for any kept items.
Trunk Club also offered an in-person styling service at the company's six locations, or "clubhouses". The in-person offering included ready-to-wear clothing for men and women, as well as made-to-order custom formalwear for men.
History
The Trunk Club remote styling idea was initially conceived in 2009 by Joanna Van Vleck while she was an MBA student. It began as a personalized clothing service based in
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U ...
.
Initial investor Anthos Capital asked Brian Spaly to take over and to found a centralized stylist business, which he did in Chicago in late 2009. Spaly was previously co-founder of men's apparel brand Bonobos, and he left
Bonobos prior to founding Trunk Club's Chicago operation.
Trunk Club first received $11 million of Series A funding in 2011 led by
US Venture Partners, with participation from Anthos Capital, Greycroft Venture Partners, and Apex Venture Partners.
In addition to the original Chicago location in the River North neighborhood,
Spaly led clubhouse expansion to
Dallas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
,
Washington DC
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, and Boston.
Trunk Club was acquired by
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...
in 2014 for $350M. In an interview with the ''New York Times'' at the time of the acquisition, Spaly said that the company was profitable, "though barely" at the time. Nordstrom recorded a goodwill accounting charge related to the Trunk Club acquisition in November 2016. Spaly announced his departure from the company in early 2017. Terry Boyle, who led Nordstrom brands
Nordstrom Rack and
HauteLook, took over the position, before leaving the company in 2019.
In March 2020, Nordstrom CEO Erik Nordstrom announced that the company would be integrating the Trunk Club service into its full-priced stores. The existing Trunk Club Clubhouses would be “relocated” into nearby Nordstrom stores by fall 2020.
Trunk Club announced it was closing for good starting May 31, 2022.
Products and services
Trunk Club operated as a wholesaler and sold products at retail cost, rather than via a subscription model. There was a $25 home styling fee for each trunk that could be applied towards purchases. It was free for customers to receive consultations with a stylist in person at a clubhouse Customers did not have to commit to certain schedule for receiving items and they only paid for the items they wished to keep, which usually ranged in price from $100 to $300 per item.
Trunk Club also ran "designer series" trunks which were collaborations with some of their best-selling brands.
In 2015, Trunk Club launched their styling services for women.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Trunk Club
Online clothing retailers of the United States
American companies established in 2009
Retail companies established in 2009
Internet properties established in 2009
Companies based in Chicago
2014 mergers and acquisitions
Subscription services