WEBVTT - Rhone Launches Women's Collection

0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:08.719
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is Bloomberg Business

0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:17.520
<v Speaker 1>Week with Carol Messer and Tim Stenebeck on Bloomberg Radio.

0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:23.599
<v Speaker 2>So good, all right, everybody. It is official Roan, known

0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.000
<v Speaker 2>for its apparel line for men. It's been around since

0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:30.160
<v Speaker 2>twenty fourteen, now backed by Blackstone executive David Blitzer, former

0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.320
<v Speaker 2>hedge fund manager Gay Platkin, and ex football star Tim

0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.479
<v Speaker 2>Tebow and Moore, and now some might finally say, I

0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:39.920
<v Speaker 2>will say finally out with the women's line. The line

0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.200
<v Speaker 2>went live online for early access yesterday, fully launching next week.

0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.639
<v Speaker 2>Back with us someone well known to our audience. He's

0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.199
<v Speaker 2>been joining us since the very beginning. Natecheck, It's co

0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:50.280
<v Speaker 2>founder and CEO of Roan, right here in our Bloomberg

0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.800
<v Speaker 2>Interactive Brokers studio. It does feel like family. We've been

0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:57.080
<v Speaker 2>watching you on this ride. First of all, how are you?

0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.000
<v Speaker 3>I'm doing great? I mean, I feel like Carol, you manift.

0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.520
<v Speaker 3>I said this because the first interview You're like, Okay,

0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.440
<v Speaker 3>so when are you going to do women's and such

0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:09.720
<v Speaker 3>great stuff? Yeah? No, it's we are so exciting. We

0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:12.600
<v Speaker 3>are so excited to bring this to the market, and

0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:14.840
<v Speaker 3>the initial reaction has been unbelievable.

0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:16.040
<v Speaker 2>So why so long?

0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:16.240
<v Speaker 4>Wait?

0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:17.800
<v Speaker 2>I just kind of shu, why so long?

0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:18.760
<v Speaker 4>Sorry?

0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.920
<v Speaker 3>Well, we did a capsule collection back in twenty nineteen

0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:26.319
<v Speaker 3>on International Women's Day, and the thought was, Okay, this

0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:28.399
<v Speaker 3>will be a little test. We'll see how the market

0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:30.640
<v Speaker 3>reacts to it. And it went well, and then, of

0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:32.959
<v Speaker 3>course we have a global pandemic the next year, so

0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:37.320
<v Speaker 3>we decided not to anniversary it. Yeah, we pulled back,

0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.440
<v Speaker 3>and then really we made the decision two and a

0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.280
<v Speaker 3>half years ago, Okay, we need to do this, but

0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:44.800
<v Speaker 3>let's do it the right way. Let's think through every aspect.

0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:49.200
<v Speaker 3>And it impacts everything from store layout to mannequins to models,

0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.640
<v Speaker 3>to the brand marketing. How are you shifting the message?

0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.200
<v Speaker 3>So we really brought investing class talent across every aspect

0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.480
<v Speaker 3>of the business and starting most importantly with the product.

0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.280
<v Speaker 3>And it just takes a while to do it, right.

0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.480
<v Speaker 5>Is it hard from a communications perspective because you've been

0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.040
<v Speaker 5>known for a decade as being a place for men,

0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.160
<v Speaker 5>and perhaps customers might walk by a store and say, well,

0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:12.519
<v Speaker 5>I'm not going to go in there because they don't

0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.120
<v Speaker 5>have product necessarily for me.

0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.600
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think that has been the brand marketing challenge.

0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:20.720
<v Speaker 3>And I think if you look at the industry, there

0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.280
<v Speaker 3>are certainly brands who have done this very well, shifted

0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.760
<v Speaker 3>from men's to women's or women's into men's, But then

0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.079
<v Speaker 3>there have been brands who have taken some big missteps

0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.560
<v Speaker 3>in that. And one of the things that we were

0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.000
<v Speaker 3>adamant about from the beginning is this is not taking

0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.120
<v Speaker 3>our men's product and creating women's product. This is taking

0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.040
<v Speaker 3>our customer, putting her at the center of the journey

0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.840
<v Speaker 3>and making product uniquely for her, unique fabrications, unique fits,

0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.800
<v Speaker 3>unique cuts, and that it can be the lines can

0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:51.400
<v Speaker 3>be complementary, but they're not meant to be, you know, symmetrical.

0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.120
<v Speaker 2>How is it more difficult in terms of creating a

0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:56.959
<v Speaker 2>women's line versus a men's line.

0:02:57.000 --> 0:03:00.000
<v Speaker 3>There's certainly a lot more competition. Yeah, and I think

0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.600
<v Speaker 3>there's more pressure to have newness and be on trend

0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.120
<v Speaker 3>in fashion. We joke in the men's space, it's like, well,

0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.480
<v Speaker 3>make sure you have black, navy and gray and you're fine.

0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.320
<v Speaker 3>But even the men's space has evolved over the last

0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:16.160
<v Speaker 3>several years. The men are more kind of fashion forward

0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.360
<v Speaker 3>and leaning into trent and style. So we brought in

0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.120
<v Speaker 3>really a best in class team on the merchandising and

0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.040
<v Speaker 3>the styling and the design side, and we're really seeing

0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.679
<v Speaker 3>it on the initial reaction. We launched an early access

0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.160
<v Speaker 3>yesterday and in the first day we started breaking on

0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.840
<v Speaker 3>a couple of styles, meaning we were selling out of

0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.720
<v Speaker 3>a few key sizes, which we had not anticipated to

0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.120
<v Speaker 3>happen for the first four weeks. So the reaction has

0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:42.640
<v Speaker 3>been just unbelievable.

0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.880
<v Speaker 5>What's the ultimate goal for revenue mix for this is it?

0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:46.320
<v Speaker 5>Do you want this to be fifty to fifty? Do

0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:47.760
<v Speaker 5>you want women to be sixty forty?

0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.080
<v Speaker 3>Now we're we've done a three year model and we

0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.560
<v Speaker 3>see a path to getting the brand to a fifty

0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:57.400
<v Speaker 3>to fifty mix. Women are obviously more prolific shoppers than men.

0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.520
<v Speaker 3>They're just better at it. They know, they stop that,

0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.600
<v Speaker 3>I hear that at home. They know what they want

0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.160
<v Speaker 3>and they you know, they're willing to lean in and

0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.400
<v Speaker 3>try new things. I think the challenge is if you

0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:11.160
<v Speaker 3>can get a male customer, you can keep him generally

0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:12.920
<v Speaker 3>a lot longer. He tends to go back to what

0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:14.880
<v Speaker 3>he knows and likes. He's harder to get.

0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:16.640
<v Speaker 4>That's the men are lazy.

0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:20.480
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yep, that's a good, good interpretation, like what you

0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.039
<v Speaker 3>like exactly right. But women, you have to earn that.

0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:25.600
<v Speaker 3>You have to earn that next purchase every single time,

0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.640
<v Speaker 3>and we take that seriously. So to us, it starts

0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.719
<v Speaker 3>at the fabric level, the quality of what we do,

0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:36.039
<v Speaker 3>and I think as we put hands you know, everything

0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.599
<v Speaker 3>from our fit model to our actual fashion models. They've said,

0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:42.799
<v Speaker 3>you know, they work with every brand in the market

0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:45.440
<v Speaker 3>and they're like, this is the softest best fabric I've

0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.280
<v Speaker 3>ever felt. So we think we're doing something right. How

0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:49.880
<v Speaker 3>do you go.

0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:53.640
<v Speaker 2>After getting the female customer? Women customers versus men, Like,

0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:55.039
<v Speaker 2>I'm curious, what was your approach?

0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:59.479
<v Speaker 3>Well, we have a slight advantage here versus a new brand,

0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:02.119
<v Speaker 3>which is we already have a big database of women.

0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.960
<v Speaker 3>Thirty percent of our men's product was being purchased by women,

0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.480
<v Speaker 3>which is about the inverse of some of the big public,

0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:12.160
<v Speaker 3>more female led brands. It's usually like the opposite of that.

0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.680
<v Speaker 3>But we had a database of active female shoppers, and

0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:20.200
<v Speaker 3>then we've just been very strategic about going out targeting

0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:25.680
<v Speaker 3>who we think she is on social building up some anticipation,

0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.440
<v Speaker 3>some great pr We've had a lot of incredible press

0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.480
<v Speaker 3>and you know, this is not a one month thing.

0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:33.640
<v Speaker 3>This is a we've learned in ten years. You've got

0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:34.760
<v Speaker 3>to keep consistent.

0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:39.240
<v Speaker 5>No shortage of this type of apparel for women out there.

0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:42.760
<v Speaker 5>I mean, like it's weird to say og like, you know,

0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.000
<v Speaker 5>it's not really even Lululemon, but you have Lululemon, you

0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:49.160
<v Speaker 5>have Athleta, you have Yery out there. How do you differentiate,

0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:50.719
<v Speaker 5>how do you make this distinct? How do you build

0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:51.840
<v Speaker 5>this brand from the ground up?

0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.200
<v Speaker 3>I think one of the things that we have really

0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.839
<v Speaker 3>prided ourselves on as we've built this line is almost

0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:00.520
<v Speaker 3>every Active brand is based on the way West Coast

0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:03.920
<v Speaker 3>and there is definitely a West Coast aesthetic. And what

0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:06.680
<v Speaker 3>I've said internally is since when was New York not

0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.480
<v Speaker 3>the capital fashion capital of the world. So we try

0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.839
<v Speaker 3>and bring a New York aesthetic and trend and focus

0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:16.479
<v Speaker 3>into Active. But we start with a root of performance

0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.880
<v Speaker 3>at the center of what we do, versus taking kind

0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.279
<v Speaker 3>of a ready to wear and then trying to use

0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.479
<v Speaker 3>active fabrics. We combine the best of both worlds to

0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.960
<v Speaker 3>kind of bring that to the market. And I think

0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:30.280
<v Speaker 3>the other big focus for us is how do we

0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:35.080
<v Speaker 3>make her you know, powerful, strong, independent. We think a

0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:38.919
<v Speaker 3>lot of these brands look the same because it's all yoga,

0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:43.080
<v Speaker 3>endless hours of yoga loops. But we think our customer

0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.800
<v Speaker 3>is maybe she's sneaking yoga in in fifteen twenty minutes

0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:49.839
<v Speaker 3>and she's working hard, she's taking care of people, she's strong,

0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:52.640
<v Speaker 3>she's independent, and we want to position her that way

0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.839
<v Speaker 3>versus you know, you've got two hours in a yoga

0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.320
<v Speaker 3>studio to do whatever you want, because none of our

0:06:58.360 --> 0:06:59.479
<v Speaker 3>customers live that way.

0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.200
<v Speaker 2>Interesting because as someone who's done yoga for a lot

0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.440
<v Speaker 2>of years, I mean, there are yoga clothes, but they

0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:06.520
<v Speaker 2>look like yoga clothes. I'm not really I'm not dissing

0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:07.120
<v Speaker 2>them or anything.

0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:07.440
<v Speaker 3>Love them.

0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:11.160
<v Speaker 2>They're really comfortable, but there's there's a professionality. Is that

0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.800
<v Speaker 2>a professionalism I guess sorry making up boards as it go,

0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.240
<v Speaker 2>but a professional aspect to the things that you guys

0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.680
<v Speaker 2>do that look it's just different.

0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.240
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, we we think about it as the difference of

0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:24.600
<v Speaker 3>ath Leisure is obviously a term that has gained a

0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.360
<v Speaker 3>lot of importance in the market, but I dost think

0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.880
<v Speaker 3>you're Yeah, the way we think about ath leisure is

0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:32.360
<v Speaker 3>it's made to look athletic, but you can't actually work

0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.200
<v Speaker 3>out in it. Yeah, So we call it performance lifestyle,

0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.800
<v Speaker 3>which is you can do anything in our clothes. You know,

0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.520
<v Speaker 3>you know, I've run a marathon in our dress shirt.

0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:44.040
<v Speaker 3>You can literally do anything, but you're going to look

0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:46.080
<v Speaker 3>professional when you wear it.

0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.040
<v Speaker 5>Is that the same when it comes to the women's line,

0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:53.480
<v Speaker 5>I mean the more active formal line that you had

0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.480
<v Speaker 5>that you developed for men's came a little later than

0:07:56.520 --> 0:08:00.280
<v Speaker 5>that first active wear stuff. Are you following a similar timeline?

0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.400
<v Speaker 5>Are you going to kind of release everything right now?

0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:02.600
<v Speaker 2>Now?

0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.920
<v Speaker 3>We're following a very similar flow, which is let's root

0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.880
<v Speaker 3>ourselves in performance. So the initial line you'll see is

0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.320
<v Speaker 3>very active focused a lot of course to court. You

0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:16.760
<v Speaker 3>may have heard we signed the LPGA, were the official

0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.560
<v Speaker 3>Encourse apparel partner there, so you'll see us on a

0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.960
<v Speaker 3>lot of green grass accounts, tennis courts, pickleball courts, and

0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:24.600
<v Speaker 3>then a lot of the lifestyle will start to be

0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:25.640
<v Speaker 3>added in afterwards.

0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.200
<v Speaker 2>So can we assume at some point and like, I know,

0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:30.120
<v Speaker 2>we've got more time to come back, but like suits,

0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.040
<v Speaker 2>like a suit that is kind of the casual, but

0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:34.079
<v Speaker 2>do it for men.

0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.000
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you'll see in some of the marketing. There's a

0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.360
<v Speaker 3>lot of really exciting stuff that I think the professional

0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:41.600
<v Speaker 3>woman will feel very comfortable wearing into the workplace.

0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:43.000
<v Speaker 2>Do you still have fun doing this?

0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:44.960
<v Speaker 3>Oh, my gosh, I'm having the most fun I've ever

0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:49.320
<v Speaker 3>had right now. This is it's ten years, and certainly

0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.560
<v Speaker 3>I've had periods of founder burnout. But I think since

0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.200
<v Speaker 3>we took back full control of the business and we

0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.280
<v Speaker 3>really kind of started to chart our own destiny, it

0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.360
<v Speaker 3>just changed the way we feel about it.

0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.600
<v Speaker 5>You took back controlled eighteen months ago, roughly didn't make

0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:07.400
<v Speaker 5>it public though until just last fall. Give an update

0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.400
<v Speaker 5>on the business since taking full control.

0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.280
<v Speaker 3>Well, last year was our biggest absolute growth here ever,

0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.360
<v Speaker 3>and the business is growing almost twice as fast this year. Yeah,

0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:21.560
<v Speaker 3>So we feel really encouraged about that decision and the

0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.440
<v Speaker 3>team that we've put into place and the investment in people,

0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:29.920
<v Speaker 3>and you know, we have big growth goals. So we

0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:32.160
<v Speaker 3>still feel like we're in the early innings of where

0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:36.079
<v Speaker 3>this can go. But it's been a journey ten years.

0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.320
<v Speaker 2>We're talking with check Its Nate check It's co founder

0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.880
<v Speaker 2>and CEO of rown A, still in studio with us,

0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:47.800
<v Speaker 2>so expanding into women. You still talk about growth going

0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:50.520
<v Speaker 2>forward ten years in what's the next ten years? Like,

0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:51.760
<v Speaker 2>how do you think about it?

0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:55.760
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, well, sorry, no pressure. I think the thing that

0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:00.199
<v Speaker 3>I am most excited about is we have from the

0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.240
<v Speaker 3>beginning of our customer journey, we have focused on what

0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.520
<v Speaker 3>we call mental fitness, which is really just an emphasis

0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:10.320
<v Speaker 3>on mental health, taking care of yourself both physically and mentally.

0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.920
<v Speaker 3>When we came into the active market, you would see

0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.520
<v Speaker 3>all of these marketing messages of you're an athlete, you know,

0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:21.360
<v Speaker 3>lift more weight, run faster, jump higher, and we think

0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.600
<v Speaker 3>there's such a missing aspect of recovery and taking care

0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:28.880
<v Speaker 3>of yourself and the space between your ears, and that

0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.400
<v Speaker 3>is a very unique problem in the men's market. So

0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.280
<v Speaker 3>it was an easy area to focus on. But everybody

0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.559
<v Speaker 3>needs to talk about this. And what's great is the

0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.360
<v Speaker 3>female customer is already naturally so much better at talking

0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.880
<v Speaker 3>about it. So doing this together with our team has

0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.679
<v Speaker 3>been really, really helpful and powerful. So what I'm most

0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:49.960
<v Speaker 3>excited about for the next ten years is to be

0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.360
<v Speaker 3>able to supercharge that and so we've got some big

0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.560
<v Speaker 3>exciting plans in terms of how we're going to do that,

0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.840
<v Speaker 3>how we're going to bring that to the market. And

0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.280
<v Speaker 3>some of the unique things that we think about about

0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.559
<v Speaker 3>being a wellness company. First, that just happens to sell clothes.

0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.640
<v Speaker 5>Wow, was that in your ethos from the very beginning

0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:10.280
<v Speaker 5>or did that happen? Did that kind of transition happen

0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.800
<v Speaker 5>over the pandemic? And you've spoken to us recently at

0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.880
<v Speaker 5>length about the challenges that the company face that, yeah,

0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:18.679
<v Speaker 5>you guys face during the pandemic.

0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.840
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it has been part of the DNA from the beginning.

0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.679
<v Speaker 3>I think during the pandemic we were able to crystallize

0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.319
<v Speaker 3>what that mission was and part of it was having

0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:30.679
<v Speaker 3>my own crisis going through some of that with the pandemic.

0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:35.480
<v Speaker 3>But we have always believed that wellness is much more

0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:39.600
<v Speaker 3>than esthetic physical fitness, which is really where I think

0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:42.040
<v Speaker 3>most of these brands focus on with a hyper level

0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:46.880
<v Speaker 3>of focus on professional athlete endorsements. We just love this

0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.679
<v Speaker 3>idea that teaching people how to take care of themselves

0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.560
<v Speaker 3>is the best way to feel good, and part of

0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.600
<v Speaker 3>that is having a uniform that you feel excited and energized,

0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:01.600
<v Speaker 3>but also enabling and empowering the conversation. We've posted hundreds

0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.200
<v Speaker 3>of these events that we call minded Muscle events, which

0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:08.080
<v Speaker 3>are twenty five minute body weight workouts followed by a

0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.280
<v Speaker 3>group discussion, which is really like a group therapy conversation,

0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.160
<v Speaker 3>and that format exists in Alcoholics Anonymous, it exists in

0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:19.400
<v Speaker 3>a number of different formats, but it's been so successful

0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:23.400
<v Speaker 3>in men's and we've had like groundbreaking moments with so

0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:27.040
<v Speaker 3>many guys and it just enables them to feel comfortable

0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.400
<v Speaker 3>talking about these things. It's like, my it's my passion,

0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:32.520
<v Speaker 3>Like that's the thing that gets me the most excited.

0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:34.600
<v Speaker 3>And yes, I think we make the best clothes in

0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:36.240
<v Speaker 3>our category and the best clothes in our market. That

0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.199
<v Speaker 3>enables us to have a megaphone. And so we've got

0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.120
<v Speaker 3>to grow the size of our megaphone to have the

0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.200
<v Speaker 3>level of impact that we want. But our growth goal

0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:47.800
<v Speaker 3>is to be a billion dollar revenue business and impact

0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.720
<v Speaker 3>one hundred million lives through our education.

0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.000
<v Speaker 2>It's fascinating to hear you say, like thinking of yourself.

0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:55.960
<v Speaker 2>I mean, like you said, it's from the beginning, but

0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:58.959
<v Speaker 2>as a wellness company kind of with clothes attached, if

0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.160
<v Speaker 2>you will, how else do you I mean, is it

0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:04.360
<v Speaker 2>a case that there are other offerings Nate, that you

0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:06.720
<v Speaker 2>eventually offered to your customers.

0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.319
<v Speaker 3>Even more so, that's the goal. From the beginning, we

0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.760
<v Speaker 3>had an online journal that we called The Pursuit, which

0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.319
<v Speaker 3>focused a lot on this bringing world class experts to

0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.320
<v Speaker 3>the table sharing that content. But what we found is

0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:21.880
<v Speaker 3>that this idea of you guys are in the content business,

0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.400
<v Speaker 3>you know how hard it is, and so we were

0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:30.679
<v Speaker 3>competing against advertised driven content engines and this was like

0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:33.199
<v Speaker 3>something that we were doing on the site. So now

0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.679
<v Speaker 3>we've taken that back in house and figured out how

0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:37.599
<v Speaker 3>to do this in a way that we think is

0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.800
<v Speaker 3>sustainable and meeting the customer where they're at in the

0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:45.160
<v Speaker 3>form of video content and social first content versus written content,

0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:49.800
<v Speaker 3>and then also live events and doing leaning more into

0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:51.520
<v Speaker 3>that that I think will be really powerful.

0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:56.240
<v Speaker 5>Can you give us an update on retail locations, because

0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.040
<v Speaker 5>one thing that we talked about with you last time

0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.280
<v Speaker 5>you were here was growth of retail in a time

0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:05.160
<v Speaker 5>when we're seeing other companies pull back. Yeah, and I'm

0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.280
<v Speaker 5>wondering how aggressive you're being this year when it comes

0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:12.360
<v Speaker 5>to that retail footprint and what portion right now comes

0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.800
<v Speaker 5>from e commerce versus those brick and mortars.

0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.439
<v Speaker 3>Retail has been our fastest growing channel the last two

0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:22.880
<v Speaker 3>years on a percent basis, and I think it's a

0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:26.160
<v Speaker 3>channel we certainly believe in. We are slowing that down

0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.480
<v Speaker 3>this year because of the women's launch. As you can imagine,

0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.360
<v Speaker 3>it changes the layout of the store, the size of

0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:37.000
<v Speaker 3>the store, the mannequins, the hangars, the training of the staff,

0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:40.520
<v Speaker 3>the selection of the staff, like there's just so many considerations,

0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:43.040
<v Speaker 3>so we kind of want to absorb and.

0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.480
<v Speaker 2>Because every store has to have a retrofit.

0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:48.440
<v Speaker 3>Right exactly, so we're retrofitting all fifteen stores. We've kind

0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.480
<v Speaker 3>of done that work, brought in the right people from

0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:55.200
<v Speaker 3>a visual merchandising standpoint, but our store plan going forward

0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.360
<v Speaker 3>is as aggressive as it was in twenty twenty three,

0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:03.000
<v Speaker 3>and we think that these stores are really important, especially

0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.480
<v Speaker 3>for our brand message, because you have to meet people

0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:08.840
<v Speaker 3>where they are and meeting people in person and physically.

0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:10.880
<v Speaker 3>We've all learned the importance of that over the last

0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.600
<v Speaker 3>several years. So we're leaning into that and doing it

0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:16.920
<v Speaker 3>the right way. We're going to be highly selective. There

0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.400
<v Speaker 3>are certainly a lot of brands in our space that,

0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:23.280
<v Speaker 3>because of their capital stack and what they need to achieve,

0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.520
<v Speaker 3>they're juicing their revenue numbers by opening as many stores

0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:30.240
<v Speaker 3>as possible. And in some cases over pain for real estate,

0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:32.440
<v Speaker 3>which is going to be tough in three to five

0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:37.560
<v Speaker 3>years when those those rates, you know, don't justify the

0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:41.160
<v Speaker 3>sales figures. We're not taking that tactic. We're being really thoughtful,

0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.320
<v Speaker 3>but we're going to you know, our store account will

0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.880
<v Speaker 3>be more than two x by twenty twenty six.

0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:49.280
<v Speaker 2>Forgive me, and I should know this wholesale you guys

0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:49.680
<v Speaker 2>don't want.

0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:51.960
<v Speaker 3>We do have some wholesale here. Yeah, We've got some

0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:55.920
<v Speaker 3>great partners in the market. We have a high focus

0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:58.400
<v Speaker 3>on specialty accounts, green grass accounts. You know, we're in

0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:00.080
<v Speaker 3>some of the best golf and country.

0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:01.280
<v Speaker 4>Club productive for you guys.

0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.840
<v Speaker 3>Or is it absolutely Yeah. I think it's a great

0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.760
<v Speaker 3>business model. You can get carried away when you're driven

0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:10.160
<v Speaker 3>when your wholesale account is driven by majors. For us,

0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.960
<v Speaker 3>it's been about twenty percent of the business the last

0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:14.400
<v Speaker 3>two years, so it's it's small.

0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:16.720
<v Speaker 4>Equinox was an early partner.

0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:21.120
<v Speaker 3>A partner is still a partner, and uh, and you know,

0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.360
<v Speaker 3>we love that type of account because generally if you

0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:26.600
<v Speaker 3>walk into an Equinox and you buy shorts, it's because

0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.480
<v Speaker 3>you forgot Nobody's like, hey, you know what I'm gonna

0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.560
<v Speaker 3>go have that be my retail experience or I would

0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.680
<v Speaker 3>say that's the minority, But you just do it. It's

0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:35.600
<v Speaker 3>perfect and it's a great way for people to discover

0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:36.840
<v Speaker 3>the brand and the product.

0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:38.000
<v Speaker 4>You want to use the gym owner shorts.

0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:43.040
<v Speaker 3>So kids, Yeah, I won't say never. My wife's been

0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.680
<v Speaker 3>begging for that from the beginning. But I think she'll

0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:46.920
<v Speaker 3>I think she'll give me a minute.

0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.560
<v Speaker 5>Because just to clarify, you have kids already, you're talking

0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:51.400
<v Speaker 5>about a kid's line.

0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:55.520
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, kid's line. Okay, yeah, fair, fair, thanks Tom. Yeah,

0:16:55.640 --> 0:17:00.040
<v Speaker 3>but but yeah, so you never know. But I I

0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.880
<v Speaker 3>prize my wife on the day that we launched, and

0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.320
<v Speaker 3>I had just flown in from Asia. I arrived at

0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.920
<v Speaker 3>three am. I set up a room in our house

0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.080
<v Speaker 3>with every single one of the products for her, and

0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:12.320
<v Speaker 3>then I brought her in a surprise her. And so

0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:13.960
<v Speaker 3>I think she'll give me. I think she'll give me

0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:16.640
<v Speaker 3>a year off before bothering me a rout kids.

0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.960
<v Speaker 2>Again, well done, well done, Thank you, Nate. Always great

0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:21.199
<v Speaker 2>to check in with you. Good luck with it.

0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.280
<v Speaker 3>Thank you, thank you guys, thanks for having me. Nate

0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:24.600
<v Speaker 3>check it.

0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:26.880
<v Speaker 2>He's co founder and CEO of Rown, joining us here

0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.240
<v Speaker 2>in studio. All right, everybody, you've been listening and watching

0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:32.560
<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Business Week, Carol Masser, Tim Stenevik, and this is

0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:33.080
<v Speaker 2>Boolberg