Printfresh opens new SoHo location

Rapidly growing sleepwear brand Printfresh has opened its first store in SoHo. In the last 2 years, the brand has seen robust growth, and now a new store located at 260 Elizabeth Street marks the latest chapter in their expansion. Brand founders Amy & Leo Voloshin carefully curated the space and described Elizabeth Street as their favorite block in NYC. The flagship opened in partnership with retail platform and operator, Leap.

“New York is one of our biggest markets in terms of sales,” Amy said to FashionUnited. “It makes sense to start doing physical retail there because for a predominantly direct-to-consumer brand like ours, it’s nice for customers to finally see the new collection in person, feel the fabrics, and try on the silhouettes in person. We are looking at opening future stores in key markets like Los Angeles.”

Initially, Printfresh started as a wholesale business, but they pivoted to direct-to-consumer during the start of the pandemic. Digital advertising was key to scaling the brand’s growth. They began with a standard digital advertising approach through Facebook and Instagram. More recently, they have evolved to more channels to reach their customers, including TikTok, Pinterest, and podcast advertising.

While many brands suffered during the pandemic, Amy and Leo felt they launched their product at the right time, as the loungewear category has been growing since lockdown. The duo always wanted a physical store, and when Leap approached them about the spot at Elizabeth Street, they jumped at it. It was great timing, as the brand was seeing explosive growth, but Amy and Leo admit they did approach opening a physical store with caution after the series of lockdowns from COVID-19.

“When we decided to open, New York seemed like it was moving toward the right direction with reopening,” Amy said to FashionUnited. “We felt pretty secure in being able to open up and just see what happens. With strong online sales, we felt like even if we had to close the store for a few weeks or months here in there, it would be okay.”

Consumer shopping habits are shifting more toward online and mobile, but brands like Printfresh are focusing on giving customers a full 360 shopping experience. Customers still want human connections, that’s why brick-and-mortar still plays a pivotal part in brand development.

“Having a brick-and-mortar store makes it easier for the influencers we work with to go to a store and check things out,” Amy said to FashionUnited. “We try to make a beautiful, well-crafted product. Online it’s sometimes hard to tell how good a brand is. When you can go into a store and see things in person, it’s such a delightful experience.”

Printfresh’s business growth is also helped by their inclusive size range. The brand’s sizes range from XXS to XXXXXXL. In some of their key styles, which will also include petites, they can have up to 23 size options.

Size inclusivity was something the brand was committed to from its launch. They initially started with sizes up to XXXL, and once they got the fit correct, they added additional sizes up to XXXXXXL.

Printfresh’s fabric is like a poplin men’s shirt fabric, which is durable and carries color very well. The issue is that there is no stretch in the fiber, so they always have to make sure to get their fits correct when designing.

Amy and Leo said they were expecting sales to slow down after the pandemic as consumers moved out of wearing loungewear, but their sales stayed steady. People are still putting a lot of effort into what they wear at home.

Amy has over fifteen years of developing prints in the fashion industry, and she and Leo attribute their prints to contributing to their significant brand growth. Printfresh has a very high repeat customer rate, and they are also very speedy with shipping, with orders shipping within two days.

Amy and Leo said the reaction to their new SoHo location has been very positive. “A lot of our customers who know us extensively through Instagram and Facebook come into our stores now,” Leo said. “We have a very high conversion rate, and everything is overall positive.”