A retailer born on the internet more than two decades ago is continuing to expand its physical footprint.
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Home goods retailer Wayfair plans to open a large showroom in Denver by the end of 2026, followed by four other stores in the U.S. in 2027, Bloomberg reported. The company already has three brick-and-mortar stores up and running, in Chicago, Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio.
The moves are part of the company's long-term recovery strategy after profits plunged post-pandemic, according to Bloomberg.
Wayfair is slated to open a 140K SF store at The Shops at Northfield in Denver in late 2026. Planned store locations in 2027 include a 130K SF store at the Center of Cincinnati shopping plaza, a 114K SF store in Yonkers, New York, a 94K SF store in Florida at the Galleria Fort Lauderdale, and a 135K SF location at Nassau Park Pavilion in Princeton, New Jersey.
Wayfair also operates about 10 smaller brick-and-mortar locations for its specialty retail brands Joss & Main, AllModern and Birch Lane, averaging 8K SF to 10K SF, Wayfair Chief Financial Officer Kate Gulliver said during a J.P. Morgan conference in May. Wayfair’s luxury Perigold brand has two larger stores in Houston and West Palm Beach.
The retailer's flagship store in Wilmette, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, debuted in 2024 and has already seen more than 720,000 shoppers through its doors, according to the company, with half of the purchasing customers new to the Wayfair brand.
Wayfair reported a net loss of $105M on revenues of $2.9B during the first quarter, compared to a loss of $113M on revenues of $2.7B during the same period last year. But Bloomberg reported that sales growth has been positive for four consecutive quarters, with revenues expected to increase more than 5% in the second quarter.
The storefront program is also part of an effort to increase the amount each customer spends at Wayfair, including through the retailer’s loyalty program, CEO Niraj Shah said during an earnings call in April.
“On average, a customer is spending $600 a year with us right now,” Shah said. “Can we get more share of wallet? Then, can we get more new customers? Can we grow that base of customers who instead … start [spending] $700 or $800 a year with us? We think we can.”
“These are profitable ways to grow the customer base and profitable ways to grow the dollars per customer per year,” Shah said later.
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