Union Station

One day I will write that book about each company I invested in. Everyone is so different, each trajectory takes a different arc, and timing makes a major difference.

Union Station began as Little Borrowed Dress. Nobody ever gets excited about owning a bridesmaid dress or any fancy dress for one occasion so the rental market around clothing rose to its glory about five years ago. But something happened over the past five years which is manufacturing technology changed so that making one garment cost the same as making 1200 garments.

So the cost of renting might be great for the consumer but the margins are slim for the company because of inventory management, dry-cleaning costs, life of a garment, wrong inventory, etc.

Corie Hardee, the founder of Union Station, knows more about the bridal business than anyone I know. She rode the wave starting with LBD over five years ago. The push from the start-up industry was you can’t just have bridesmaids dresses as a business so add other items, change the name, create a marketplace, blah, blah, blah, blah. Corie has gone done every path and has come out on the other side as Union Station, a place where you can buy an affordable dress for $150 or less to be a beautiful bridesmaid, feel comfortable and stick to the color theme of the wedding. These dresses are also great for events or even proms.

As the wedding industry fumbles, aka David’s Bridal and others, Corie has stayed in the game. Perhaps a windy road, but all successful companies have windy roads. I am insanely proud to be part of this company and I believe this time around, we know more than anyone else with years of experience, data and knowledge under our belt.

Check out Union Station, that just launched yesterday. Go get your swatch and start figuring out your wedding. Very excited about the next five years!