California Apparel News

After a few days of heavy media speculation, it was announced March 17, that ModCloth, a San Francisco–headquartered e-commerce retailer with a focus on independent women’s fashions was acquired by Jet.com, a division of one of the world’s biggest retailers, WalMart.

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, ModCloth founder Susan Gregg Koger said that joining WalMart would allow ModCloth to grow and sell goods on Jet.com and other websites.

“This will give us the necessary resources and support that we need as a business to grow. Growth allows us to reach more women, grow our community, and amplify our message. Our mission to help our customers feel like the best version of themselves continues. And our commitment to inclusivity continues. Our amazing team continues. And we can open more stores—in your hometown! I hope you will continue to join us as well on this next phase of our journey together,” she blogged on her company’s website modcloth.com.

WalMart acquired ModCloth’s assets and operations, but Matthew Kaness, ModCloth’s chief executive officer and his team of executives will continue to helm the women’s retailer. A ModCloth statement guaranteed that its executives and more than 300 employees will continue to operate it as a “standalone” brand, and also as a complementary brand to other e-commerce sites.

In her blog, Gregg Koger noted that that her company had gone through tough times, which included layoffs. “And most recently over the past few months we’ve watched our industry change dramatically,” she said. However, she did not fully describe recent changes in the industry in her blog.

The past couple of years have been eventful for ModCloth. In January 2015, Kaness joined the company as CEO after co-founder Eric Koger resigned from his job helming the company . There were two rounds of layoffs in 2014. ModCloth also experimented with new avenues. It opened a physical store in Austin, Texas in October. This month, the retailer introduced a fashion line collaboration with Wrangler jeans. The seven-piece line ModCloth x Wrangler offers a 1970s-inspired style of jeans, jackets and T-shirts in a wide range of styles.

One of ModCloth’s points of difference has been a focus on making clothes for a full size range, from xxs to 4x, Gregg Koger said. Jet.com retails grocery items, jewelry, household items, as well as toys and games. In August, it was announced that WalMart acquired Jet.com for $3.3 billion. On Dec. 30, it was reported that Jet. com acquired Shoe Buy, a Boston-headquartered e-commerce site