Why startup brands are increasingly flocking to this Midwestern department store

Von Maur typically opens one or two new stores per year, but it has been further investing in its footprint and entering new states over the past few years. The retailer now has 39 physical locations across 15 states and most recently opened its first store in North Dakota in April. All locations are currently undergoing a remodel, part of a five-year, $100 million construction project announced in 2024. The privately-held company does not disclose its revenue.

As a growing, regional player, Von Maur has been getting more interest from brands looking to reach customers in secondary or tertiary cities where they may not already have a huge wholesale presence. These brands run the gamut from buzzy, Instagram-native startup brands to more established players. In 2024, for example, Von Maur brought on outdoor gear brand L.L. Bean. As a department store, Von Maur is constantly looking to bring on new brands in a wide range of categories, including apparel, footwear and beauty.

Joy Place, the merchandising vp at Von Maur, said the retailer’s approach to merchandising tends to be more focused on curation than volume. Place said the Von Maur customer often expects the retailer to expose them to new brands and products. 

Place considers Von Maur a specialty department store. “We don’t do a lot of sales [discounts] and don’t have private labels at all, which is pretty unheard of in the industry,” she said.

“Our stores tend to be out in nice suburban areas,” Place said, with customers typically shopping frequently and consistently, sometimes coming back multiple times per week. Place added that many of these loyal shoppers are families and grew up going to Von Maur. 

The fact that the company is privately-held and family-owned, Place said, gives her more flexibility in approaching vendors. “There are a lot of decisions that I’m able to make to keep evolving our mixture on the floor,” she said. “And we [the merchandise team] don’t have all these different layers of approval to go through.”

Place said the merchandising department seeks new brands from various sources, whether it’s through social media buzz or personal experience. “My team and I are always shopping,” Place said. 

The challenge is to consistently introduce newness to keep customers coming in on a regular basis. That includes seeking out unique assortments that customers can’t easily find at other retailers. As an example, Place said that, in the past year, Von Maur brought on Chicago-based footwear brand Azalea Wang. “They have really colorful designs like embellished cowboy boots, which were major last fall,” said Place.

Place also pointed to Baseball Lifestyle 101, an apparel brand geared at young baseball fans, which was brought to her attention by her son. “That’s a social media-focused brand that fits well in our boys’ and young men’s areas,” Place said. “We didn’t have anything else like that on the floor, and it’s doing extremely well.”

In other cases, Von Maur will bring on a new brand to plug a white space in its existing assortment. In spring 2025, Von Maur brought in online fashion brand Lulus, which Place said performed well among its customers due to its reasonable price point and variety of feminine pieces. 

Direct-to-consumer bag brand Dagne Dover launched in Von Maur earlier this month to reach an untapped audience outside of the coasts. “That came from my personal need for a backpack,” Place said. After searching online extensively, she landed on one of the brand’s designs and decided to reach out to them for wholesale distribution. “Their designs have the functionality, and the neoprene is something nobody was doing.” 

One of Von Maur’s most attractive offerings for brands is that it tends to put their products in all locations very quickly after launch, as opposed to testing one market at a time. “When we put a brand in all locations, it’s because we know it’s a good fit for the customer based on feedback and requests from our store associates,” Place said.

In July, jewelry brand Ana Luisa began rolling out in all Von Maur stores across the Midwest. Ana Luisa’s vp of wholesale, Brad Owings, said the company is tapping department stores as a way to gain exposure among non-DTC shoppers.

Ana Luisa, founded in 2017, is now building out its wholesale presence alongside opening its own stores. “Retailers like Von Maur help give credibility to our brand,” Owings said. “Their buyers are savvy and stay on top of trends of what’s new and hot.”

Ana Luisa is offering a range of its bestselling products at Von Maur, which Owings said is meant to appeal to a wide range of their customers. “Our product range is for everyone from teenagers to 70-year-olds,” whether it’s a customer in New York, Los Angeles or the middle of the country, he said.

Owings said Ana Luisa’s Von Maur launch has been a success since rolling out in 20 locations during the initial phase. “They [Von Maur] expected to see a 6.7% turn rate, and we overindexed and saw a 10.8% ROI,” he said.

Even with these recent brand partnerships, Place said she still faces challenges when reaching out to executives at what she refers to as “Instagram brands,” as some messages go ignored because they have never been to a Von Maur. “I really educate them on what we can offer.”  

“It is a little disheartening at times, because there is really no retailer that does what we do,” Place added. “Hopefully that changes, because I think of us as a little hidden gem.”