NEW YORK — Soma has made its debut in the Big Apple.
The intimates apparel retailer— part of the Chico’s FAS portfolio — has set up a pop-up shop called the Soma Innovation Lab in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood this Friday and Saturday, the brand’s first brick-and-mortar retail experience in New York.
“The Soma brand — even though you can walk in and shop for yourself and pull product for yourself — is really built on concierge customer service,” Cristina Ceresoli, vice president of public relations at the Soma, Chico’s and White House Black Markets, told WWD. “We want the woman to come in and say, ‘This is my problem. Help me.’ And then the bra fit experts can go around, pull panties, pull bras, pull sleepwear. And it’s more of a relaxing full-service experience, than having to search the whole store by yourself.”
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She added that the Innovation Lab, as well as Soma’s updated concept shops are “lighter and slightly smaller” than past Soma stores.
The Manhattan pop-up shop, located at 119 Spring Street, is 1,600 square feet and has an inviting, Millennial vibe, painted in a rainbow of muted pinks and lined with racks of bras, such as Soma’s “Vanishing 360” and “Enbliss” bra collections.
There’s also a TV screen with women of various sizes, shapes and ages modeling the various assortments in the background, multiple flamingo-colored fitting rooms and a lounge area, complete with a sofa and wicker chairs. Guests can sip on tequila-infused drinks and nipple on boob-shaped cookies (and score a boob-shaped planter as well), as they wait for friends and family to try on bras and underwear.
There’s also noticeably less stuff in the store.
“Because we don’t need piles and piles of product [in the store],” Ceresoli said. To that end, the executive explained that there’s a limited stock of physical goods in the space.
“We didn’t want it to be a store per se; we want it to be an experience,” she explained. “But certainly, we want people to come in, touch, feel, try on and order to their hearts’ content.
“They’re coming in to socialize; They like to spend time in the space and hang out,” Ceresoli added. “The whole Chico’s FAS business is built on the idea that we want women to come in and be relaxed and feel served, if that’s what they want.”
About half a dozen bra fit specialists will be in the space each day. Ceresoli said shoppers can also opt for virtual fittings, or other clienteling services, such as text message exchanges with store associates or private at-home fittings.
The pop-up marks the launch of the new Bodify bra, which goes on sale next week. The patented bra includes special technology that is similar to a smart device, or “smart bra,” adjusting to a women’s individual body measures as they fluctuate throughout the month.
“So it retightens to your body,” Ceresoli explained. “If you gain a tiny bit of weight and then you lose it, the fabric contracts.”
The Innovation Lab is also the Soma brand’s first physical retail experience in New York City. While private appointments were set up on Thursday for VIP customers in the area, anyone can walk in on Friday or Saturday to see the space, chat with fit specialists, try on pieces and order products to be sent directly to their homes.
“We’ve had our eye on New York since before COVID[-19],” said Ceresoli, who added that online shopping data shows strong demand for the Soma brand in places like New Jersey and Brooklyn, N.Y. “Soma is not totally geographically concentrated, but there’s not as many stores in the Northeast, so we’re aware that we want to be able to reach every woman. And the Northeast customer is an important customer; we have many of our best customers in this area.”
A representative for the company wouldn’t say how many people were expected throughout the pop-up, but did say that VIP bra-fitting appointments were fully booked.
“We want as many women, of every age, to try the bra and to be aware of the launch and to have exposure to the Soma brand,” Ceresoli said. “This is the beginning of much more activity from Soma across the entire United States.”
Soma is owned by Fort Myers, Fla.-based retailer Chico’s FAS, which also includes the Chico’s, White House Black Market and TellTale brands. But Soma is the clear standout — even before the pandemic began.
While the rest of the portfolio has struggled with see-sawing revenues and even shuttered stores in an attempt to curb losses — in early 2019 the company said it would close between 13 and 16 percent of its store fleet each year over a three-year period, the majority in underperforming mall-based Chico’s and White House Black Market stores, in addition to filing bankruptcy in Chico’s FAS Canada, a subsidiary of Chico’s FAS, in summer 2020, a move that led to the closure of all 10 Canada-based stores and its related e-commerce businesses — Soma continues to gain market share.
In the most recent quarter, the innerwear and sleepwear brand’s comparable sales rose 30 percent, year-over-year, marking five consecutive quarters of comparable sales growth at Soma. Even compared with pre-pandemic levels, Soma’s comparable sales figures were up.
As of January, the brand had roughly 250 Soma boutiques and outlet locations throughout the nation, in addition to approximately 70 Soma shops-in-shop units inside Chico’s stores.
Molly Langenstein, chief executive officer and president of Chico’s FAS, told analysts during the company’s November conference call that, “Soma is well positioned to continue capturing market share on our journey to becoming a $1 billion brand.”
Chico’s FAS will reveal its latest earning’s report on March 1.