Bentonville, Ark., and New York City — Walmart has agreed to acquire online apparel retailer Bonobos Inc. for approximately $310 million in cash. Bonobos operates 35 physical retail locations in addition to its online presence.
Walmart, the giant discount department store chain, expects to complete the transaction by September. The announcement comes on the heels of Walmart’s acquisition of online women’s apparel retailer ModCloth in March.
Founded in 2007 by Andy Dunn and Brian Spaly, New York-based Bonobos designs and sells its own brands of clothing for men. These brands will be featured and sold on various Walmart-owned digital platforms, including Jet.com, which Bentonville-based Walmart acquired in August 2016 for approximately $3 billion.
Bonobos also operates 35 physical retail locations, known as Guideshops, across the United States. Walmart currently has no plans to feature lines of Bonobos clothing in its brick-and-mortar locations, according to The New York Times.
Under the terms of the agreement, Dunn, the current CEO of Bonobos, will oversee the company’s collection of clothing brands that are designed in-house and distributed online.
Marc Lore, CEO of Walmart U.S. e-commerce and founder of Jet.com, says the acquisition reflects the company’s long term e-commerce strategy.
“We’re seeing momentum in the [e-commerce] business as we expand our value proposition with customers,” he says. “It’s incredible to see how fast we’re moving.”
Lore will also oversee Dunn’s new role within the company.
“Adding innovators like Andy will continue to help us shape the future of Walmart and the future of retail,” adds Lore. “Bonobos has created an amazing product and customer experience, and that will not change.”
Walmart’s fiscal year runs from Feb.1 through Jan. 31. In the most recent quarter (February-April), Walmart saw 63% growth in U.S. e-commerce sales, the majority coming from organic growth in Walmart.com. This growth follows several new e-commerce features introduced earlier this year, such as 2-day free shipping with no membership fee and discounts for picking up orders in stores.
— Taylor Williams