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Dive Brief:
- DTC bedding brand Parachute is hosting its first-ever outdoor holiday market event Dec. 2-3 in Culver City, California.
- The in-person marketplace will feature over 40 brands, including Avaline, ILIA, Nécessaire, Our Place, Brightland, Cuyana and Janessa Leone, per an email sent to Retail Dive.
- The market will also include a ski chalet, hot cocoa shack, gift wrapping, a kids play area and a photo opportunity in Parachute’s sleigh bed. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Baby2Baby, a national nonprofit that provides essential services for children living in poverty.
Dive Insight:
The in-person holiday event is part of Parachute’s overall seasonal marketing strategy, according to Parachute founder Ariel Kaye.
“Holiday is one of our most important sales seasons, and we’ve long dreamt of doing something that felt ‘big’ to seize the moment and engage with our local community here in Los Angeles — which happens to also be one of our largest target markets,” Kaye said in an email to Retail Dive. “This is the first year since before the pandemic where we felt like the interest was there.”
The Parachute Holiday Village, as its name suggests, will be set up as a series of small storefronts from the various participating brands who will be open for business during the two-day event in Culver City, a shopping and entertainment community adjacent to the city of Los Angeles. In addition to the retail experience, guests who purchase the $8 entry ticket will find holiday crafts, cocktail tastings, music and wood-fired pizzas.
“This is really all about making memories and driving brand affinity more than it is about sales,” Kaye said.
The in-person holiday event comes as Parachute continues to expand both its product offerings and retail footprint. Best known for their bedding and sheets, Parachute has expanded to include furniture and other home-related decor in the past couple of years.
“Over the last year, we’ve seen the consumer appetite for in-person events and experiences increase significantly,” Kaye said. “We’re closing out the year with nearly 200 small scale events across our 26 stores that have been successful in both community building and sales performance.”
Parachute opened its first store in the Venice area of Los Angeles in 2016. Parachute now has a total of five stores in the Los Angeles area, three in New York and other stores across Texas, Colorado, Washington, California, Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri and Washington, D.C.
While the brand remains predominantly DTC, Parachute does have a wholesale partnership with Nordstrom, and in the past it has sold collaborations with Crate & Barrel and Madewell.
The brand is now focused on sustainable growth, Kaye said. Parachute has raised $47 million in capital to date, with the last of three raises occuring in 2018. “Since then we’ve intentionally prioritized stable, healthy growth and have not taken any formal funding to ensure that we’re building a brand that will last 100+ years,” Kaye said.
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