Walmart Buys Plus-Size Retailer Eloquii

Walmart Inc. of Bentonville on Tuesday announced its latest e-commerce acquisition: Eloquii, a fashion brand focused on plus-size women’s apparel.

Terms of the deal, set to close later this quarter, were not disclosed. Eloquii, founded in 2011 as part of The Limited, will join the retail giant’s portfolio of digitally native vertical brands, which includes ModCloth, Bonobos and Allswell.

Walmart said the purchase fits with its strategy of “acquiring digital brands that are unique and differentiated, offering products and experiences you can’t find anywhere else.”

“The collection is sold exclusively at ELOQUII.com and the company’s five experiential retail stores,” Andy Dunn, senior vice president of digital consumer brands for Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce division, wrote on Walmart’s blog. “As a digitally native vertical brand (DNVB), ELOQUII has a direct connection with its customers that helps inform how products get developed, how they’re marketed, and how the brand comes to life.”

It’s that direct connection with customers that Walmart craves. The company has spent the last two years acquiring independent brands with passionate fanbases — including ModCloth, Moosejaw and Dunn’s company, Bonobos — to fuel sales on the retailer’s namesake website and Jet.com, an Amazon rival it bought in 2016 for $3.3 billion.

Walmart said Eloquii sells through its own digital channel and “offers unique and differentiated products, similar to ModCloth and Bonobos.” Eloquii also “complements ModCloth and our private brand assortment by focusing exclusively on plus-size women,” which Walmart says is a $21 billion market that’s among the fastest growing retail segments.

“Today, more than half of women age 18-65 in the U.S. wear size 14 or higher,” Walmart said in a fact sheet detailing the deal. “However, these customers have been historically underserved, with clothing limited by its lack of fashion, lack of fit, or both.”

Walmart said that Eloquii CEO Mariah Chase, her executive team and the firm’s 100 employees will continue to be based in Long Island City, New York, and Columbus, Ohio. The firm will join Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce organization and report to Dunn.