By Chloe Aiello
Dutch couture company Scotch & Soda is rolling out a subscription model ー just for men.
"We strongly believe that subscription model is the way young people today shop. Just the way young people do not want to own cars, they don't want to own ー they want newness, freshness," said Ari Hoffman, North American CEO of Scotch & Soda.
The company already does business with companies like Stitch Fix and Rent the Runway, but this will be the first time the company will operate its own subscription service. Hoffman said the company hopes to differentiate itself from competitors by focusing more on men, which make up about 60 percent of its customer base.
"For men, this would be the first ever. There isn't today a men's focused subscription model so we are the first ones, from what I know in the world, to launch it," he added.
The company is still evaluating the fee structure and details, like how many items of clothing customers can have at one time. Eventually there will also be a service for women.
Beyond that, Scotch & Soda is continuing to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint, even as more consumers take their shopping online and e-commerce companies like Amazon steal more market share. Hoffman said he's confident in Scotch & Soda's ability to shift with the times and maintain it's brick-and-mortar presence, because the company has always invested to ensure its shops are more experiential than the average retailer.
"When you walk into our stores, it's not just a window from outside, it's a smell ー its a scent in the store ーwhich is so important. It's the light, extremely important; it's the service, absolutely; the checkout, absolutely. So there's every touch point," he said.
Scotch & Soda opening its eighth location in New York City on Apr. 12. The opening will be the company's sixth in the past nine months.
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