For the first time, the e-commerce site owned by San Francisco-based Gap Inc. will be opening an actual brick and mortar location. Piperlime, which until now has only been online, will soon be available at 121 Wooster Street this coming fall. Selling over 500 brands from Citizens of Humanity and Frye to Milly, Piperlime now plans to make its first real shop in SoHo.
As Jennifer Gosselin, senior vice president and general manager of Piperlime, said, “The neighborhood has great foot-traffic and is a shopping destination for our target customer. The character of [SoHo] is also a great fit for our boutique approach.”
While many would assume that Piperlime would have ended up on the Broadway strip, alongside other Bap brands Old Navy and Banana Republic, they chose Wooster Street for its individuality. As Chris Owles, the Sinvin Real Estate broker who helped with the deal said, “The location allows them to differentiate this product from all their others, which are more mainstream. It’s a tight market down here, and this was probably one of the few that really gave them the proper location and the image they require.”
Piperlime joins other online-only retailers who are surfing for brick and mortar space. Amazon is apparently also looking around for space, and eBay and Warby Parker have been toying with the idea as well.