Trunk Club was a personalized mid- to high-end men's and women's clothing service based in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, United States. Starting 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 (referred to as a "trunk"), which was shipped to their home or office. The customer could choose to 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, referred to as "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 central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

. Initial investor Anthos Capital asked Brian Spaly to become founder and CEO of Trunk Club in 2010. Spaly was previously co-founder of online menswear 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. The key to growth was the partnership between Brian Spaly and Rob Chesney, who formed a dynamic duo of story-telling and inside operations complexity. In addition to the original Chicago location in the River North neighborhood, Spaly led clubhouse expansion to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

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, and Boston. Trunk Club was acquired by

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...

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 Nordstrom Rack is an American off-price department store chain founded in 1973. It is a sister brand to the luxury department store chain Nordstrom. , Nordstrom Rack operates 348 stores in 41 U.S. states. History In 1973, the company open ...

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 that 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 introduced "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

* {{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