RYU's
Wholesale Strategy an Unprecedented Success with Addition of Former
Saks Fifth Ave SVP, National Expansion, and New Partnerships
with Wholesale
Icons such as Zappos, Urban Outfitters, Nordstroms, and
Others
Vancouver, BC, Canada -- July 27, 2022 --
InvestorsHub NewsWire -- RYU
Apparel Inc. (TSXV:
RYU) (OTCQB:
RYPPF) (FWB: RYAA) ("RYU" "RYPPF"
or the "Company"),
a cutting-edge lifestyle brand, and creator of award-winning urban
athletic apparel that facilitates human movement, is experiencing
dramatic growth in its new wholesale strategy in Q2, 2022,
exceeding previous forecast expectations.
This momentum is attributed to the addition
of a key strategic wholesale agency partner on the East Coast with
Thomas Ott, who has an extensive
background in luxury, department store, and off price retailing,
with oversight into all merchandise areas, and a majority of his
career to date in luxury at Saks Fifth Avenue where he was SVP
Men's , Home, & Concession. He joins DJM Global and Carraway and Co, two
well established leaders in the US wholesale market, to lead RYU's
push into strategic wholesale.
RYU is proud to announce new
partnerships with several best-in-class wholesale accounts such as
Nordstroms, Urban Outfitters, and Zappos. These key accounts
supplement a strong wholesale roster which currently includes large
partners such as Altitude Sports and Winners. Several additional
partners have been identified and talks are underway to continue to
expand the RYU wholesale business.
COO Rob Blair said "We're having
conversations across the board with Equinox, Zappos, Sport Chek
Canada, Altitude Sports, Nordstrom's, Backcountry.com, Indigo, and
more. We've already taken half of those accounts and landed
preliminary buys."
He added, "What we are doing is
taking the category-pillar approach. We don't want to go in and be
a mile-wide and an inch-thick. We want to go in and be meaningful
to our partners to deliver the solutions that ultimately drive
dollars per square foot in the retail environment."
RYU is building three main
wholesale channels to scale their business through premium brand
partners and volume retail partnerships. Each is designed to fill a
particular need:
Traditional:
Stockholding retailers (both brick + mortar and ecommerce) at
standard keystone margins, focused on current season
products.
Drop
ship: Digital partners
who will sell RYU products on their ecommerce storefronts through
EDI (electronic data interchange) drop shipping; and
Clearance:
Premium clearance partners to
clear out old inventory.
For 2023, RYU's wholesale plan is
to position its Impact collection as the go-to brand inside the
sporting goods channels, reaching accounts such as REI, Scheel's,
Dick's Sporting Goods, and Academy Sports. RYU also sees an
opportunity to bring the luxury Rebel collection in 2024 to REI,
Simons in Canada and Bloomingdale's while expanding the Terry
collection to The Buckle. For 2024, the goal is to reach the
selling floors of Macy's and Urban Outfitters. "RYU also sees an
opportunity to a reimaged Technical Street offering," states COO
Rob Blair, "the Rebel is the culmination of our design DNA in
accessible luxury and athleisure and this technical street style
will evolve RYU's look to speak to a key consumer
audience."
Cesare Fazari, CEO, added "The
wholesale program is the results of strong partnership and brand
building work RYU has developed for years. Partners like the NFL
Alumni Academy and its 40,000 members are a force multiplier for
brand awareness. Combined with other partners like Zoom Media, the
Canadian Skateboard Olympic Team, and 8000 gym locations, RYU is
building momentum. These partnerships are creating the awareness to
convert into large wholesale orders. With RYU's expansion into game
and Esports, we're going to continue to drive strong awareness and
demand for our product across North America."
Blair said about the wholesale
push, "The exciting part of it is that everybody wants to talk to
us. The feedback I'm constantly getting from the rep group and the
sales leadership is that everybody's excited."
About RYU
Apparel Inc.
RYU Apparel Inc. (TSXV:
RYU,
OTCQB: RYPPF), or Respect Your Universe, is a movement-focused
apparel brand. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, we create
multi-purpose clothing, bags and accessories for performance and
everyday wear. RYU is an experiential omni-channel retailer and
sells its products in Canada and the United States through
strategic wholesale accounts and online via its e-commerce
site http://ryu.com
Forward
Looking Statements Disclaimer
This news
release contains forward-looking information that involves various
risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such
forward-looking information can include without limitation
statements based on current expectations involving a number of
risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future
performance of RYU, such as statements that: RYU will sell products
or receive media exposure as a result of new immersive retail
systems. There are numerous risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results and RYU's plans
and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking information, including but not limited to adverse
market conditions and the inability of RYU's
wholesale plans to result in a positive contribution Actual results
and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in
such information. These and all subsequent written and oral
forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of
management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified
in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, RYU
does not intend to update these forward-looking
statements.
Neither the TSX
Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press
release.
RYU APPAREL
INC.
Cesare Fazari
Chairman & Chief Executive
Officer
416-434-5750
Corporate
Communications
investors@ryu.com
www.ryu.com
