OR-based women's sports apparel marketer lucy.com and
athletic club and lifestyle product developer Crunch will
open a lucy.com retail store at Crunch's 2nd Ave. location
in N.Y. by January 1. The store, called lucy@crunch, is
lucy.com's third retail distribution channel, following its
Web site launch in November '99 and its catalog last month
(lucy.com). In Portland, Andy Dworkin reported that the N.Y.
retail outlet is "the first of several stores planned" by
lucy.com. Founder Sue Levin said, "We've always sort of had
the 'Lucy-not-com' joke. But I think it's really important
to remind people ... that we are a women's active-wear
retailer, not a Web company." More Levin: "The number of
women out there who are comfortable shopping by catalog is
much greater than the number of women who are comfortable
shopping online. And the number of women who are
comfortable shopping in stores is larger still." The store
will carry a "selection of Lucy's stock and Crunch-branded
products, the latter for men and women" (OREGONIAN, 10/16).
