This $48 Million Luggage Company Has Big Plans for Your Next Trip

These two former Warby Parker execs want to sell you way more than your next piece of luggage.

When Jen Rubio first posed the idea of launching Away, a direct-to-consumer luggage company, to Steph Korey, she didn't need much persuading.

Korey was in the throes of penning her graduate business school dissertation on the hallmarks of success for direct-to-consumer businesses. Plus, she and Rubio started on the same day at Warby Parker back in 2011, when the direct-to-consumer eyeglasses company had just 20 employees.

"We helped Warby grow from 20 to 300 people while we were there," says Korey, Away's CEO. "We feel so strongly that the future of retail is direct-to-consumer."

Not only are direct-to-consumer brands cheaper--since they cut out the middleman (a.k.a. the retailer)--they offer a constant feedback loop that traditional consumer products companies don't have, says Korey. "If a customer goes into a luggage store and says, 'That purple is whack,' you're never going to know about it," she adds. "With direct-to-consumer, the brand constantly learns how to better serve the customer."

Since officially launching Away in 2015, the pair have found plenty of opportunities to test that theory. The New York City-based company, which offers four sizes of bags starting at $225, has sold more than 100,000 suitcases--helping it book $12 million in sales in 2016, its first full fiscal year. Away is on track to more than quadruple that figure to $48 million in 2017, says Korey. Read more

Diana Ransom - INC. - 12 Jun 2017