Knix inks its first US wholesale partnership with Bloomingdale’s
Three months after opening its first U.S. store, Canadian intimates brand Knix is celebrating its first U.S. wholesale partnership.
Knix, which launched in 2013, is now selling merchandise at Bloomingdale’s New York City flagship and on Bloomingdale’s U.S. website. Knix is known for its leakproof underwear, but its Bloomingdale’s assortment also includes bras, shapewear and sleepwear. The products come in shades like Wintergreen, Cheetah Print and Dark Cherry, and “illustrate some of the more fashion-forward elements of the brand, like fun colors and silhouettes,” Nicole Tapscott, chief commercial officer at Knix, told Modern Retail. The selection retails for $27-$128.
For Knix, the Bloomingdale’s partnership represents another way the brand is betting on the United States. Knix opened its first store in Canada in 2019 and has a wholesale presence there through partners including Costco Canada, Sporting Life and La Maison Simons. But the U.S. is proving a promising market for Knix; the brand’s customer acquisition in the country is up double digits, founder Joanna Griffiths previously told Modern Retail. Knix opened its standalone store in New York City in August, and it built a fulfillment center in Ohio earlier this year. The brand also sells its products on Amazon.
Knix has sold more than 15 million pairs of leakproof underwear in North America, and the majority of its sales in North America come from e-commerce. While the company did not disclose revenue figures, in September 2022, Knix sold a majority stake for $320 million to health and hygiene product company Essity. Since its acquisition, Knix has grown by double digits, per the brand.
Until Knix opened its U.S. store, its U.S. sales were from digital platforms. But operating an e-commerce business has become more expensive, the brand found, especially as ad costs have skyrocketed on channels like Meta and Google. In this environment, Tapscott said, Knix wanted to launch U.S. wholesale to encourage people to touch and feel the product and “showcase the much broader assortment we have now, versus when we first launched.” What’s more, she said, in a post-Covid environment, “We saw there was a huge interest in shopping in person and a real love for department stores.”
Knix reached out to Bloomingdale’s about a partnership, and, coincidentally, the retailer was already interested in diverting more floor space to intimates, Tapscott said. “Leakproof [products] is something that the consumer is hoping to see, both from a discovery standpoint and a problem-solution standpoint,” she added.
Knix’s bet on Bloomingdale’s comes at a strong time for the department store. Bloomingdale’s, which appointed a new CEO in 2023 and caters to a more affluent shopper, posted its fourth consecutive quarter of comparable-sales growth in September. Its net sales were up 4.6% year over year. However, its parent company, Macy’s, Inc., is still working on a turnaround; its second-quarter net sales, inclusive of store closures, decreased 2.5% year over year.
“Our recent performance underscores that Bloomingdale’s is gaining momentum,” Macy’s, Inc. CEO Tony Spring said on an earnings call in September. He added that Bloomingdale’s is focused on “attracting new brands and partnerships, expanding distribution, growing digital, and increasing [its] national footprint” through outlets and Bloomie’s stores.
Bloomingdale’s willingness to carry a buzzy DTC brand like Knix indicates that “Bloomingdale’s is starting to understand the next generation of shoppers,” said Andrea Leigh, the founder of e-commerce consultancy firm Allume Group and a former Amazon executive. “New shoppers may be focused more on authenticity and inclusivity and this idea of comfort, instead of legacy luxury,” she told Modern Retail. “It’s encouraging to see Bloomingdale’s embrace a brand like Knix, and I think it shows [Bloomingdale’s] is starting to re-evaluate its definition of luxury.”
Carrying products from a brand like Knix also gives Bloomingdale’s an opportunity to build an emotional connection with the shopper, Leigh said. She mentioned a recent Knix campaign called “Sport Your Period,” in which professional soccer players like Megan Rapinoe talked about playing while on their periods. “They’re driving awareness and normalizing women having menstruation,” Leigh said. “It’s a very emotional brand, and it seems like a good win for Bloomingdale’s [to carry Knix].”
Knix, for its part, is “still in discussions” with Bloomingdale’s about rolling out the assortment to other physical Bloomingdale’s locations, Tapscott said. She stressed that Knix is not worried about cannibalization in New York City with its new standalone store and the Bloomingdale’s partnership, as the company already has stores and wholesale partners in Toronto and Vancouver.
Ultimately, she said, “I’m just really excited about getting more women to try the product.”