eCommerce Shift Helps Fuel Strong Sales At Pier 1 Imports, Dressbarn

Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), the incubator that relaunched Pier 1 Imports and Dressbarn in 2020, noted that the migration to eCommerce in addition to trends such as the “quest for comfort at home” fueled formidable sales at the two brands, according to an announcement.

At Pier1.com, signature home fragrances were the most popular items, according to Pier 1 CEO Shayan Zadeh. Holiday scents such as Apple Crisp and Holiday Forest headed up the pack.

Zadeh indicated that Cyber Monday and Black Friday came out ahead of Pier 1’s expectations when it came to performance.

“Black Friday was definitely stronger than Cyber Monday, but that’s to be expected given that so many people were shopping online rather than queuing up at malls and stores,” he said.

Charlotte Van Dyke, the chief executive of Houston-based Dressbarn, said the brand also had a formidable Cyber Monday/Black Friday.

“As the whole world pivots to spending more time at home and working from home, we featured promotions on our cozy and comfortable SKUs,” she said. “Our customers really responded.”

Dressbarn customers have gone to the brand’s Instagram and Facebook pages in droves in recent weeks for live-streamed style tips, according to the company.

REV, which was started by Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr last year to give life to companies that have struggled to succeed in the online shopping age, has bought he brand assets and eCommerce businesses of multiple brands.

“This was the inaugural Black Friday/Cyber Monday for Pier 1 and Dressbarn as Internet-first companies,” Lopez said. “The results are a window into today’s consumers, who are adapting to change but still showing strong affinity for long-popular offerings from both brands.”

Lopez’s approach to retailer has involved purchasing distressed brick-and-mortar brands and providing them with a new digital life.

“People have slowly become comfortable with the fact that everybody they know is buying online, so they figure they’ll try it. And like Jeff Bezos did, they start with low-risk items. Bezos started with books, because buying a book is a low-risk transaction. And now people are buying everything online, including cars and real estate,” Lopez previously told PYMNTS.