Walmart has announced that it is acquiring Eloquii, an online plus-size clothing store in a deal reportedly valued at $100 million according to Recode. The $100 million figure is about two-and-a-half to three times Eloquii’s annual revenue.
The Limited launched Eloquii back in 2011 but then decided to discontinue the brand eighteen months later. Several employees and an outside investor bought the Eloquii brand back in 2014 and then relaunched it online. Since then, Eloquii opened five retail stores across the US and its sales doubled every year. Eloquii also sells its products through Dia&Co and Stitch Fix as well.
One of the reasons why Eloquii grew so fast is because the plus-size apparel market is underserved. The plus-size apparel market generates around $21.4 billion in annual sales, according to the NPD Group. And there is a lack of plus-size options at many of the national retailers in the US, thus creating the opportunity for Eloquii.
Walmart has been on an acquisition spree in recent years as the retail giant acquired Bonobos ($310 million) and ModCloth last year and Jet.com the year before for $3 billion in cash.
Eloquii CEO Mariah Chase and the company’s 100 employees will join Walmart’s e-commerce division and report to Andy Dunn, who is the head of digital consumer brands at the retail giant. Dunn was the CEO of Bonobos.
Eloquii had raised $42 million in venture capital funding prior the acquisition. Chase told Recode that she was planning to raise more funding to remain independent, but the deal with Walmart was intriguing due to its recent commitment towards helping build innovative digital brands.
“When you’re a business that had raised venture capital, selling the business is not necessarily an existential question, especially as you mature,” said Chase via Recode. “The question really comes down to timing and partner. And for us, that all kind of gelled with Walmart.”
