Santa Monica-based Black Tux rolls out San Francisco showroom
The Black Tux recently opened its fifth freestanding showroom space in San Francisco’s Jackson Square.
The Santa Monica, Calif.-based online suit and tux rental company’s 720-square-foot space makes it neighbors with Shinola, Isabel Marant, Theory and APC, placing it in a market its executives had long been eyeing, according to cofounder Andrew Blackmon. The Black Tux also has showrooms in New York City, Dallas, Santa Monica and Chicago.
“We had been looking at San Francisco for a while. It’s one of our more popular markets,” Blackmon said. “People [there] tend to be early adopters and they care about style and fashion.”
The company, which was founded in 2013, aimed to be the alternative for grooms looking for something different from the existing rental options on the market by providing quality items (real leather shoes and merino wool suits) with convenience in the form of free home try-ons. The company’s raised about $40 million to date.
Blackmon said more showrooms are expected for The Black Tux in the coming years but no other locations are currently in the development pipeline. More new store activity is likely to pick back up again at the beginning of next year, he said.
“They’re a great tool for people to really see and feel our product and compare it to our competitors,” he said of the showrooms. “So our plan is to continue expanding in major metropolitan areas and then tier two and tier three cities.”
The company a little over a month ago began the rollout of shops-in-shops in Nordstrom stores. It’s currently in about six with the most recent opening in Boston last month.
Early reads on the shops-in-shops have been positive so far, Blackmon said, with the plan to continue focusing on expanding the brand at Nordstrom.
“It’s possible we might go into more Nordstroms this year, although we don’t know for sure at this point,” he said.
More product launches and partnerships with designers are set for the fall, although Blackmon declined to provide specifics.
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