Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Olivia Rodrigo announced that a share of her tour ticket sales will go to feminist nonprofits, Levi’s new CEO Michelle Gass wants to reprioritize the store’s offerings, and Rent the Runway hires a new exec to win back customers. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
– The next runway. Right now, Rent the Runway is a penny stock. More than two years after going public, the clothing rental service stock is down 98%, trading at less than 50 cents. A variety of factors are to blame: the pandemic and its long-lasting effects on how women shop and dress, changing fashion trends, and operational challenges.
But the company has a new plan to turn itself around—and the next step is marketing it. Rent the Runway just hired Natalie McGrath, a marketing alum of the payments platform Afterpay and fashion brands Coach, Boohoo, and Bandier, as its new CMO, it announced this morning. The hire signals the next phase of founder and CEO Jenn Hyman’s attempts to turn around the business.
Earlier this year, the company said it had slashed its marketing budget, cut 10% of corporate jobs, and announced the departure of COO Anushka Salinas. In late 2023, it had 132,000 active subscribers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Customers have said they were disappointed with the service’s selection of more casual apparel for post-pandemic lifestyles. Meanwhile, competitors like Urban Outfitters-backed Nuuly have gained traction.
But with McGrath’s hire, Rent the Runway is ready to invest in marketing again. “The love is there—we just have to remind people,” she says. McGrath used to live above Rent the Runway’s store in Manhattan and remembers when it was always busy with women browsing and dropping off their rentals. “This is about bringing the power in the brand back to life,” she says.
Rent the Runway says that it’s spent the past several months solving some of its operational challenges, including inventory availability and a move toward profitability. McGrath’s job is to convince former customers that the service has more to offer them than they remember and, at the same time, to woo new renters. The company wants to own the category it invented again. “We have to get that customer excitement back,” she says.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Ticket funds. Pop star Olivia Rodrigo announced that a portion of the ticket sales from her upcoming GUTS tour will be donated to nonprofits pushing for equity for women and girls. The money set aside from North American ticket sales will go to abortion funds, the singer says. Jezebel
- Top up. Levi’s new CEO Michelle Gass wants to redesign the company to be “a denim lifestyle retailer” that emphasizes Levi’s non-jean offerings. Gass, the former CEO of Kohl's, said the company reorganization will work toward a goal of selling one top for every pair of jeans in the U.S. The New York Times
- Left swipe. Bumble will lay off 350 employees, the dating app business announced alongside its 2023 earnings. New CEO Lidiane Jones recently installed a new executive team after stepping into the job at the beginning of the year. Wall Street Journal
- Under pressure. Thinx laid off almost 90% of its staff as the period underwear brand is "integrated" into corporate owner Kimberly-Clark. It's been a slow demise for the once-buzzy and controversial brand. The Cut
- Pay way down under. The Australian government reported data on Tuesday showing that men at the Australian divisions of Morgan Stanley, UBS, and other banks earn more than 40% more on average than women do. UBS blamed the gap on the lack of women in senior roles while Morgan Stanley promised to promote more women into top jobs. Bloomberg
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: The Healthcare Leadership Council named Katie Mahoney as executive vice president and chief policy officer.
ON MY RADAR
Can parents prevent their sons from sliding to the right? The Cut
What if Mom’s not to blame? The New York Times
Glossier's new CEO charts next chapter of growth The Information
PARTING WORDS
"No one looking to start or grow their family, in any state, deserves to be criminalized."
—Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D–Ill.). She is demanding her colleagues vote on a bill that would federally protect in vitro fertilization procedures.
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