Trunk Club is a personalized mid- to high-end men's and women's clothing service based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. From its start in 2009, Trunk Club pioneered the at-home try-on model within the men's clothing industry. Each customer works with a styling specialist who curates clothing for their box, which is shipped to their home or office; the customer can then either keep the clothes or send items back to Trunk Club, with billing occurring at the end of the process for any kept items. Trunk Club also offers an in-person styling service at the company's six locations, or "clubhouses". The in-person offering includes ready-to-wear clothing for men and women, as well as made-to-order custom formalwear for men.
History
The Trunk Club remote styling idea was initially conceived in 2009 by Joanna Van Vleck while she was an MBA student. It began as a personalized clothing service based in Bend, Oregon. Initial investor asked Brian Spaly to take over and to found a centralized stylist business, which he did in Chicago in late 2009. Spaly was previously co-founder of men's apparel brand Bonobos, and he left Bonobos prior to founding Trunk Club's Chicago operation. Trunk Club first received $11 million of Series A funding in 2011 led by US Venture Partners, with participation from Anthos Capital, Greycroft Venture Partners, and Apex Venture Partners. In addition to the original Chicago location in the River North neighborhood, Spaly led clubhouse expansion to Dallas, Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston. Trunk Club was acquired by Nordstrom in 2014 for $350M. In an interview with the New York Times at the time of the acquisition, Spaly said that the company was profitable, "though barely" at the time. Nordstrom recorded a goodwill accounting charge related to the Trunk Club acquisition in November 2016. Spaly announced his departure from the company in early 2017. Terry Boyle, who led Nordstrom brands Nordstrom Rack and HauteLook, took over the position, before leaving the company in 2019. In March 2020, Nordstrom CEO Erik Nordstrom announced that the company will be integrating the Trunk Club service into its full-priced stores. The existing Trunk Club Clubhouses will be “relocated” into nearby Nordstrom stores by fall 2020.
Products and services
Trunk Club currently operates as a wholesaler and sells products at retail cost, rather than via a subscription model. There is a $25 home styling fee for each trunk that may be applied towards purchases. It is free for customers to receive consultations with a stylist in person at a clubhouse Customers don't have to commit to certain schedule for receiving items and they only pay for the items they wish to keep, which usually range in price from $100 to $300 per item. Trunk Club also has run "designer series" trunks which are collaborations with some of their best-selling brands. In 2015, Trunk Club launched their styling services for women.
Critical reception
There has been some feedback around the "immediately apparent" use of attractive young women as staff at the on-site locations, which some have seen as off-putting, as well as the aura of throwback masculinity epitomized in the clubhouses.
