Internet furniture retailer Wayfair is the latest company to go from clicks to bricks.
Wayfair on Tuesday announced it will be opening its first full-service store at the Natick Mall in Natick, Massachusetts, which is managed by Brookfield Properties, in early fall of this year. That’s after it tested a few pop-up shops, including one at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, during this past holiday season.
Now, Wayfair CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah said a permanent location will allow the company to bring its website to life, and hopefully win more customers over with “knowledgeable support and expertise of our in-store design team” that can’t be matched online.
Born-online brands opening up bricks-and-mortar locations is a frequent occurrence in the retail industry today. Mattress company Casper has said it plans to open 200 locations over the next two years. Apparel company Untuckit recently hit 50 stores. And glasses maker Warby Parker is at about 100. A new mall in New York, Hudson Yards, has an entire floor dedicated to e-commerce retailers like sock brand Stance and men’s athletic apparel company Rhone.
Wayfair’s new store will allow shoppers to either purchase products there to take home, or have orders placed for delivery to home, the company said.
Wayfair also said it’s planning to open four pop-up locations this summer. It didn’t comment further about how many permanent locations it plans to open in the future.
Wayfair shares have surged nearly 140 percent over the past 12 months to trade around $162. Analysts say the company has done particularly well on the internet considering it sells furniture items, like sofas and coffee tables, that are bulky and not easy to take home from a store. But the new store will also help Wayfair grow brand awareness and let shoppers try out its products in real life.
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