| Las Vegas — Online retailer Barbell Apparel, in conjunction with International Retail Group (IRG), is set to open its first brick-and-mortar store in Las Vegas on June 8. The new store will be in the heart of Downtown Summerlin, a large outdoor shopping center owned by the Howard Hughes Corporation. Barbell Apparel was founded by a team of life-long friends and athletes who started their story by launching their Athletic Fit Jeans on Kickstarter.
“A store is the next step in our plans to grow the Barbell Apparel brand,” says Alex Hansen, co-founder, Barbell Apparel. The team at Downtown Summerlin introduced the brand to International Retail Group, which is responsible for store design, merchandising and running the day-to-day operations. “Our store will allow us to touch the consumer directly and gain valuable feedback and insight that you can only get when you are face-to-face with the customer,” Hansen adds. “Barbell Apparel built a great online business with an avid following, so a store where new customers can interact with their product is the next logical step to grow the brand,” says Linda Johansen-James, CEO and founder of IRG. “We are so thankful for our strategic partners at Heather Allen Design group, who worked with us tirelessly, and quickly, to create a store that is interactive and at a glance tells the brand’s story.” Hanson and Hunter Molzen first pitched Barbell Apparel on “Shark Tank,” where they requested $500,000 for 5% equity. In April 2014, they launched a 45-day Kickstarter campaign aiming to raise $15,000. In less than 1 hour, they had surpassed their target. The fundraiser closed at more than $730,000.
SOURCE: Ancillary Retail magazine |