RETAIL
True&Co. Lingerie Store Hits the Road
Michelle Lam calls it “nomadic retail.”
A trailer outfitted with a boutique will bring her e-commerce lingerie brand True&Co. to cities across the United States this year.
On Feb. 10, the 24-foot-by-8-foot mobile boutique, called “The Try-on Truck,” parked outside Wanderlust Hollywood, a yoga studio and community center in Los Angeles. With the backdrop of a party atmosphere where wine and organic food was served.
Since the company started in 2012, True&Co.’s customers have taken the body-type quiz online. But a mobile boutique gives the brand’s loyal shoppers a chance to shop in a place devoted to True&Co.’s merchandise and aesthetic.
“We’re building a female shopping experience,” Lam said. “It’s a comfortable place where they can talk about what they like about their bodies.”
One of the truck’s windows displays selfies that visitors took of themselves in The Try-on Truck.
The interior features cushioned alcoves where shoppers can take True&Co.’s quiz with one of the mobile shop’s fit experts. The center area displays the brand’s products, and on the edges there are fitting rooms where lingerie can be tried on.
The mobile boutique’s tour started on Jan. 7 in San Francisco. Shoppers can make an online appointment for a 30-minute consultation with a fit specialist. The truck also accepts walk-ins too, said Ashley Fattig, the mobile-store manager. Some lingerie can be purchased at the store. It also sells items such as candles.
Lam declined to say how much it cost to build the mobile boutique. But she worked with Spiegel Aihara Workshop, a prominent San Francisco architecture firm, and Mobile Office Architects, with bases in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Brooklyn, N.Y. The truck was inspired by the tiny house movement, which seeks to cut the carbon footprint and space that residences use.
Lam plans to make the mobile boutique’s tour a permanent one.
