Walmart acquires online lingerie retailer
Walmart Inc said on Friday it has acquired online lingerie retailer Bare Necessities for an undisclosed amount, its second apparel-focused acquisition in less than two weeks as it seeks deeper inroads into the online fashion space.
Walmart last week acquired Eloquii, a fashion startup that sells plus-sized clothing. The company also tied up with comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to launch a women's fashion line in August.
In 2017, the Bentonville, Arkansas based retailer partnered with department store chain Lord & Taylor and started offering its products on Walmart.com. Lord & Taylor is owned by Hudson's Bay Co.
Walmart also last year bought ShoeBuy, which specializes in footwear and apparel; Moosejaw, which sells outdoor wear; Bonobos, which sells men's clothing and ModCloth, an online seller of women's apparel.
Walmart's string of small fashion-company acquisitions is designed to help the retailer access younger, millennial customers who do not normally shop on its website, and recover ground lost to Amazon.com Inc and others.
The deal also reflects a sense of urgency to defend market share. According to a report from Morgan Stanley, Walmart had 8.6 percent of the US apparel market in 2017, followed by Amazon at 7.9 percent and Target Corp at 4.8 percent.
