The latest, a $60 million injection last year led by Fidelity Investments, pegged the company’s valuation at a “significant step up” from the $520 million mark it set in 2014, Hyman told Recode at the time . That vote of confidence notwithstanding, brand awareness remains a problem—Rent the Runway hasn’t advertised much since it first popped up eight years ago. Being based in New York, “you become slightly delusional as to what your brand awareness is,” said Hyman. “And I’m not talking about our awareness in Kansas. I’m talking about it in Boston, or L.A.” To get the word out, the company launched its first national ad campaign last month, with commercials that promise the service could replace someone’s entire closet of clothes. “We all want to be a star,” said Mike Kim, a director at data consultancy AArete, describing the look of Narciso Rodriguez, Derek Lam, or Naeem Khan that can appear at your doorstep courtesy of Hyman’s shop. “What Rent the Runway has been able to do is make that kind of luxury accessible.” The first rental company that can find real success in markets outside of the biggest cities will be “the winner for years to come,” he added. Hyman’s headquarters may be in a shiny Manhattan tower, but the heart of her operation is a 250,000-square-foot facility across the Hudson River in Secaucus, New Jersey. At around 6 a.m., FedEx, UPS, and U.S. Postal Service trucks begin to arrive, carrying returning garments from across the country. Each piece must be scanned, inspected, dry cleaned, repaired, and sent through quality control before being packed and shipped out again at the end of the day. A dress may come from California that morning and get sent off to North Dakota by nightfall, returning for its next voyage a few days later. Unlike regular retailers, it’s more difficult for Rent the Runway to expand its warehouse and distribution operations beyond its New Jersey hub. With normal retail returns, there’s less urgency to send an item back into the world.
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