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Dagne Dover plots nontraditional wholesale expansion through college bookstores and registries

Since launching in 2013, bag brand Dagne Dover has remained primarily focused on its own sales channels. In the last few years, the company has ventured further into wholesale partnerships as the direct-to-consumer e-commerce environment has become more challenging.

Dagne Dover first dabbled in wholesale in 2017 through a partnership with Equinox, followed by a launch in select Nordstrom stores. Since then it added Bloomingdale’s and Dillard’s as department store partners. Now the company is testing retail partners that are considered less conventional for bag brands — which typically focus on fashion or department stores — in order to reach different demographics. The brand is currently at over 300 wholesale sales points across the U.S., which include retail chains and independent boutiques. This month, the brand is also launching in all 39 Von Maur stores, which will give it a major Midwest department store presence. The latest expansion also coincides with the launch of the brand’s fall-winter 2025 collection. 

Melissa Mash, co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover, told Modern Retail that, while there is pressure to expand into wholesale rapidly, for the sake of growth, the company is taking a gradual approach. “We have really strong customer relationships in our own channels, and we need to try to replicate that in our wholesale,” she said.  

Mash said the New York City-based company is now “entering secondary or tertiary cities where we have less brand recognition.” The goal is to provide people with touch points where they can see and feel Dagne Dover’s bags in real life.

Based on her background in wholesale, working at Coach during the Great Recession, Mash said it’s risky to heavily rely on a single channel, especially wholesale brick-and-mortar. 

“But we’ve always looked at wholesale as a way to have a strategic partner for getting in front of different types of audiences efficiently,” she said. “It’s especially important for a brand like us, where we don’t have just one type of customer demographic.” Mash added that Dagne Dover’s collections are geared toward everyone from young tweens to older people, and everyone in between.  

This is why the company is trying to identify wholesale partners considered off-the-beaten path in its category. Traditionally, apparel and accessories brands tend to sell through national chains like department stores or mall-based retailers. One example of a more nontraditional wholesale partner the brand is going after is Dicks’s House of Sport, where Dagne Dover sells styles like its fanny packs and water bottle slings. The Dick’s Sporting Goods-operated store is growing rapidly across the country, with the newest location opening in Jersey City, N.J. “And we are going live in all Pottery Barn Kids stores this month,” Mash said — the brand is selling its diaper bag line at the retailer. 

Registry platforms are also a major growth opportunity for the brand. In the last few years, it launched on Babylist, Zola and Joy. Another unexpected place where the brand is now showing up is the pet supply site Tate & Taylor, founded by model and creator Taylor Hill. “If you are a fur baby mom and see our pet carriers, … you may then check out our other styles,” said Mash.

Growing its college campus presence — including investing in sponsorships and selling at bookstores — is another focus for Dagne Dover. This year, the brand began testing college bookstores as sales channels to tap into captive audiences. “It’s not only [provides awareness to] the Gen-Z shopper, but also their parents and alumni,” Mash said. 

The university campus presence began organically earlier this year with New York University, of which Mash is an alum. NYU requested an assortment of bags for its popular downtown bookstore in time for graduation.

“We already had a beautiful lilac color ready for the spring,” Mash said. “The store is a big tourist attraction, and they included a nice founder story about us.” 

Since then, Dagne Dover has partnered with 10 additional campus bookstores, including Notre Dame and the University of Pennsylvania. Some of the locations are in partnership with Barnes & Noble College shops.

Mash said that, while these bookstores aren’t large sales channels, they are an entry point to building relationships with young customers. 

For instance, Barnes & Noble College offers programming and events for its college-based audiences, which Mash said fits Dagne Dover’s overall events strategy. 

“We have volunteered ourselves to speak at these schools about how we got here, to make it a full-circle moment,” Mash said. This fall, the brand is also launching a college ambassador program at eight schools, including Boston University and SMU. “As long as the students keep showing up, we’ll sponsor their events and post raffles on game days,” Mash said.

Chris D’Alessandro, executive director at the marketing agency VML, said, with so many startup brands entering wholesale channels like department stores and big-box retailers, saturation is a major risk. “The No. 1 issue is getting desirable shelf space or space for merchandising their products,” he said, especially as brands transition from online to physical stores.

“A brand needs to make decisions on how they want to be perceived, as well as about product quality and scale,” D’Alessandro said. As such, a partner like Barnes & Noble College can help a brand maintain their “uniqueness” without having to scale quickly, unlike a deal with Walmart or Target. 

At the same time, brands like Dagne Dover have to find a balance between diversifying channels without losing focus on their loyal customer base.

As Dagne Dover continues to grow its physical footprint, Mash said the company is evaluating the value of partners of all sizes, focusing on whether their locations can help the brand build long-lasting relationships with customers. 

“It’s all about having high visibility in high traffic areas and getting creative with how we’re getting in front of these audiences,” Mash said. “We constantly need to adapt.”