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show-rumors | Jun 12, 2019 |
Digital, meet traditional: Floyd expands partnership with West Elm

Direct-to-consumer furniture brand Floyd has expanded its retail partnership with West Elm, bringing all of the Detroit-based startup’s products to the big box. On June 4, the entire Floyd assortment—flat-pack sofas, tables and beds—went live on West Elm’s website; the products are also featured in its physical stores in three cities: New York; Austin, Texas; and Santa Monica, California.

Floyd had already dipped its toes in the retail waters with West Elm. In 2016, two years after the company was founded, West Elm began selling its first product, Floyd Legs, as part of the retailer’s LOCAL program. In 2017, the company began carrying Floyd’s modular birchwood bed. Now, West Elm offers every Floyd product online.

“Floyd’s products are modern and uncluttered, which are a nice complement to the West Elm assortment,” Don Macciocca, West Elm’s vice president of merchandising, furniture and lighting, tells Business of Home. “It was a natural extension to bring the Floyd experience into the built environment with an in-store destination where they could experience both our brands together.”

What is the overlap between consumers who shop Floyd and those who shop West Elm? The typical Floyd shopper cares about sustainability—a topic that West Elm has also focused on. “Our commitment to ‘responsible retail’ starts with the choice to invest in products that are made in ways that respect people and the environment,” says Macciocca. “Floyd’s mix of materials and craftsmanship … provide the flexibility and convenience customers want in their lives and at home.”

Establishing a presence in West Elm’s retail stores is also a pilot for Floyd, which has previously experimented with apartment-esque pop-ups in New York and L.A., Airbnbs across the country, and a showroom in its Detroit headquarters. Los Angeles and New York are Floyd’s biggest markets, so it’s safer for the brand to test out its first foray into traditional brick-and-mortar retail in those particular places; Austin is a new market, but seemed a safe bet—it probably doesn’t hurt that the Texan state capital is the fastest growing city in the U.S., according to NPR.

“We’re digitally native, but being present is so important,” Floyd co-founder and CEO Kyle Hoff tells BOH. “We can lean on West Elm’s knowledge of how customers interact with products, [but this is ultimately] about us being able to offer the best experience and products to our customers.” In negotiating the partnership, Hoff and fellow Floyd co-founder Alex O’Dell, the company’s COO, worked with Macciocca and regional West Elm teams in each market to create their store-in-store experience. Though West Elm’s physical spaces vary in look and size from place to place, Floyd uses about 400 to 500 square feet for each of its setups.

In typical startup fashion, the company has already planned what’s next. This summer, Floyd, notoriously meticulous about its product development, will have some new releases to put on display in West Elm stores, including a book shelf, a bed frame that comes with under-bed storage and a modular shelving system.

Homepage photo, courtesy of Floyd.

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