That group includes eyewear maker Warby Parker, which opened a Manhattan storefront this spring, and fashion accessories startup BaubleBar, which has experimented with a variety of brick-and-mortar models to appeal to women for whom shopping is a social activity. There's also Gap's "online-only" brand, which (irony alert) opened a brick-and-mortar boutique last fall.
Custom shirt maker Proper Cloth is the latest to join the click-to-brick crowd with a SoHo showroom that opened in June. Founder Seph Skerritt says the startup needed a physical presence to establish its brand. "Our goal is to be a timeless menswear brand," he says. "That's a tough sell if you're only online."
