Can Failed Retail Fashion Brands Find An Afterlife Online?

Failed fashion brands might think they’ve died and gone to heaven if they buy the promise that Onestop Internet is offering, as reported in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal. The WSJ article maps out a plan for failed retail brands to remain viable by closing stores and “transition to online-only fashion labels,” by partnering with Onestop. The Compton, California-based company offers “end-to-end commerce solutions” and in its thirteen years of operation reports servicing more than 120 brands to launch e-commerce capability. Apparently bankrupt American Apparel and BCGC Max Azria believe their brand can go on in the digital afterlife that Onestop promises. Onestop’s compelling case for this online-only tactic is made by the numbers. They breakdown the costs and profits for a sample pair of $150 jeans, showing that profits soar to 30% using its online-only model, as compared with 16% for a sale made at retail. Can’t you all hear the calculator keys clicking among the investment firms that have picked up so many of these brands in bankruptcy proceedings? Read more at Forbes.