Why This Online Retailer Is Expanding Its Chain of Stores

Even before Amazon.com bought Whole Foods last year, smaller ecommerce companies like eyeglasses seller Warby Parker and custom suit maker Indochino had seen the value of opening their own brick-and-mortar stores. For one thing, the stores make it much easier to lure new customers, according to Indochino CEO Drew Green.

In an interview, Mr. Green revealed that Indochino’s cost of signing up new customers has dropped by almost half since its first store opened in 2015. The 11-year-old startup, which began as an online retailer that instructed its customers on how to measure themselves for custom-tailored suits, now has eight brick-and-mortar outposts in Canada and 23 in the U.S. Six more are planned this year and up to 53 are in the pipeline for the next two years.