First, the idea that you are going reinvent retail. The idea of selling stuff has probably been around as long as mankind. Stores have been around for thousand, tens of thousands of years. Changing people habits isn't an easy thing to do, and take a whole bunch of money. This is gambling money. Amazon money.
Secondly, if you really want to know what happened, the answer is in the following sentence:
"The closure will eventually put 60 people at Nau's headquarters in the Pearl District out of work. It also employs 35 in its five stores, which include one opened less than two weeks ago in Los Angeles."
I always have to explain to my employees that the nexus of customer and clerk is the most important job they have. Sure, it's great if they have organizational skills, or they clean the store, but that sale at the counter is what keeps us in business.
I don't care that the company is new. That's just too many chefs and not enough waiters.
Portland-based retailer Nau closes after 14 months
Nau Inc. announced Friday it was shutting down, just 14 months after launching with goals of shattering retail business practices, changing consumer shopping habits and promoting sustainable living.
Shortly before noon, the Portland company posted on its Web site a statement, "Goodbye for Nau," indicating it was ceasing operations. In near indignant language, company officials blamed its failure not on its ambitious business plan but on tight U.S. credit markets
"At this time, investors are loath to invest in anything; especially, it appears, a company like Nau that has the audacity to challenge conventional paradigms of what a business should be," the statement said.
Industry experts and local venture capitalists said the company also suffered from a flawed business model and possibly missteps along the way. Nau's plans, mostly rooted in the name of environmental stewardship, ate through lots of cash, required an ambitious rollout of stores and relied on consumers to change their shopping habits, critics said.Its closure casts a pall on Portland's drive to be a leader in sustainable business practices, something Nau had come to symbolize nationally.
"It's not a good day for Oregon, actually," said Mike Edwards, former CEO of Portland-based apparel retailer Lucy Activewear. "Portland is the activewear apparel capital globally. A lot of new companies are moving in to take advantage of that labor pool. We don't need to scare them."
In an interview, Nau vice president for marketing Ian Yolles declined to say how much Nau fell short of its fundraising goals. The closure will eventually put 60 people at Nau's headquarters in the Pearl District out of work. It also employs 35 in its five stores, which include one opened less than two weeks ago in Los Angeles.
"It doesn't mean the ideas we're associated with are unattainable and it doesn't mean they aren't important," Yolles said. "There's an urgency for businesses to operate in a way that demonstrates leadership to a sustainable future. But it is a very sad day."
Yolles declined requests to allow a photographer at its headquarters or Tualatin store.
Nau was founded in 2005 with an all-star management team and board who'd cut their teeth at such established brands as Marmot Mountain, Nike, Patagonia Inc. and Adidas. The company aimed to design and sell clothing made from renewable materials, such as recycled polyester and merino wool, for use both actively outdoors and fashionably out at night.
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I read about the company about a year ago in an in-flight magazine. It sounded cool, but their clothing was EXTREMELY expensive. The article had also emphasized that the whole thing was a gamble. So it's not too surprising.
They were trying to get started on something really expensive and exotic, just as people are tightening their belts.
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