New York-based direct-to-consumer sock brand Bombas is venturing into brick-and-mortar retail after a decade, opening three stores this year and expanding its wholesale presence.
David Heath and Randy Goldberg
Popular for its comfortable, high-quality socks and “buy one, donate one” social mission, Bombas has opened its first physical retail store in New York City’s West Village. A second store is scheduled to open in Boca Raton, Florida and a third in Austin, Texas. Why is the duo diversifying to physical stores after twelve years? Per their research, within the categories Bombas sells, 65% of sales are done in physical stores.
An estimated 90% of the company’s revenue has come through its website, with the remaining percentage by existing wholesale partners Nordstrom, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Scheels. Looking ahead, the stores will feature the company’s full product portfolio, which include underwear, T-shirts, slippers, slides and bralettes. Customers will be able to try on footwear items in-store.
In addition to opening its own stores, Bombas is launching wholesale partnerships with Target and DSW. Both partnerships will roll out in phases beginning next month. At DSW, Bombas plans to emphasize its growing footwear business, which now represents approximately 20% of annual sales. The brand will feature slippers and slides alongside socks in DSW’s nearly 500 stores.
Bombas store locations —:
- New York City: West Village, 345 Bleecker St.
- Boca Raton, Florida: Town Center, 6000 Glades Road
- Austin, Texas: The Domain, 11410 Century Oaks Terrace
About Bombas
Bombas was born out of a mission to donate comfortable socks to the homeless. It was, surprisingly, the most requested item and inspired David Heath and Randy Goldberg to launch their own brand, Bombas, donating one item for every item sold.
Bombas was born out of a mission to donate comfortable socks to the homeless.
Founded in 2013, the certified B Corporation Bombas has adhered to its founding vision of “buy one, donate one” and donated millions of items to homeless shelters. Per the official website, “Our mission since day one has been to help those experiencing homelessness. That is why for every item you purchase, we donate an item on your behalf. We thought this was a pretty good idea. Turns out a lot of other people did, too. We have donated more than 150 million items to more than 4,000 community organizations to date—all thanks to supporters like you.”
With the help of customers and Giving Partners, the founders wanted to retail clean, comfortable clothes. So they created the most comfortable socks, underwear, and t-shirts possible. Each item is rigorously tested for comfort and durability, and the team is constantly looking for ways to innovate and improve. They feel that the better our clothes are, the better we feel when doing anything.
Comfort is non-negotiable. Per the website, “Small things matter. They add up. Then, they turn into big things. So we took the time to pinpoint all the small issues with socks and t-shirts: the painful toe seams; annoying pilling; no shows that slip. You name it, we found it. Then we tweaked and tweaked until we reached total perfection.”
Bombas: Shark Tank’s Most Successful Brand
The co-founders appeared on “Shark Tank” in 2014 and won the backing of Daymond John, proceeding to become one of the most successful ventures in the television show’s history: $200,000 for a 17.5% equity stake. Per Forbes, “The episode did air—in the fall of 2014—and within 30 seconds the company’s website crashed. Ten years later, Bombas is the top-selling product in the Emmy-winning show’s history with more than $1 billion dollars in lifetime sales. Perhaps more importantly, Bombas has donated more than 100 million essential apparel items—socks, underwear, t-shirts—to those at-risk, in need, and experiencing homelessness.”
“The company’s extreme focus has been a key driver for growth”, Daymond John told Entrepreneur. “Their focus on making sure their initial product was the best pair of socks; their focus on not expanding into too many product categories too quickly; their focus on making sure to create a digital marketing flywheel. They had a huge night when they initially aired on Shark Tank, and they didn’t let that get to their heads. They knew they needed to focus on building the business in a sustainable way to truly take advantage of this Shark Tank tidal wave.”
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
