Le Tote
There are times when I see a business model and just have a good gut feeling. Doesn't hurt when the numbers back it up.
I was introduced to Le Tote
just a few months ago. Got on the phone with the two founders and
talked for quite awhile. Spoke again, spoke again and then pulled the
trigger. I then had the pleasure of finally having the face to face
meeting with both of them and knew that I made the right call.
Le
Tote is a business that has been built around the consumer behavior
that seems almost secondary now, the monthly box combined with shared
clothing.
Go to the site and enter your profile information
which includes your tastes and size and of course your credit card. The
price is $49 a month. Then you will receive a box of clothing to wear
for the month. When you are done, ship it back and another box arrives
with a new wardrobe. If you just can't live without one of those
fantastic items then you can keep it and LeTote will charge you.
What
I love about this business is many things. Le Tote totally sings to the 18-35
year old crowd who loves to buy new goodies all the time. One of my all
time favorite Oscar de la Renta quotes was in Vanity Fair years ago.
He was asked "what is the most favorite thing you own". His answer was
classic.."The last thing I purchased." This defines the customer for
Le Tote. It isn't inexpensive to keep buying clothes but this is a fun
way to replenish your wardrobe every month with fun new items. It also
appeals to sustainability. Walking in your closet and seeing things
that you have only worn once or never worn with a price tag hanging off
of it is upsetting.
I got my box!
Comments (Archived):
Love this!
This is a great idea and execution looks nice [1]. So I thought what about doing the same for handbags (remember I’m a guy here) and viola someone is doing that.I turned up a WSJ article (2008) on that:http://online.wsj.com/artic……and it turns out that two of the 4 companies mentionedare out of business.[1] Not seeing a page showing who the team is. I’m wondering why that’s missing.
good question. the team here is great!
No questions about that @gothamgal:disqus. I have known and interacted with Rakesh and Brett and I can bet about this team.. They rock !
Other comment is on the “how it works” page.Video at the top doesn’t allow me (it’s above the fold and I havea 30″ monitor!) to quickly figure out what’s going on. I have to scroll down (which I might not do, right?)The “using the service” points need to be ABOVE the 1-4girls (not below) and in a “friendlier” color than black.The way they summarize is really good my thoughtsrelate solely to presentation tweaks and placement(coming from among other things a graphics background).Strictly my opinion.
We like opinions. Thanks
is it weird you are wearing clothes other people have worn?
Not at all. They are clean and hip. Sustainable makes sense.
That’s a great model, and I’m surprised that there aren’t more second market exchanges like that for other products. For example, take smartphones. Forget the carriers & their stupid contracts…if there was a way to trade-up between peers, then more people will afford changing models more frequently, etc..Funny, my friend Daniel Nissanoff described this exact model in 2006 in his book FutureShop (I helped him a bit while he was writing it). http://www.amazon.com/Futur…