Cuup Gives FullBeauty the TikTok Generation
FullBeauty Brands’ deal for Cuup offers the size-inclusive intimates company a stronger foothold with the coveted Instagram and TikTok generation, but that doesn’t mean it’s giving up on the boomers who make up much of its current customer base.
Cuup, FullBeauty said Thursday when announcing the acquisition, caters to the underserved market for women who wear large bra cup sizes. The transaction comes just three months after FullBeauty took over yet another size-inclusive fashion brand, Eloquii, which Walmart previously owned.
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Digitally native Cuup and Eloquii specialize in the plus-size market. While Cuup expands FullBeauty’s presence in the intimates market—about $13 billion and growing in the U.S. and $45 billion globally—both it and Eloquii grow FullBeauty’s foothold in the $81 billion U.S. women’s plus-size market.
In a statement, FullBeauty CEO Jim Fogarty said, Cuup helps the company “grow as the leading destination for great fitting, quality, on-trend, size-inclusive apparel.”
“As an innovative, high-growth brand seeking to disrupt the intimates category, Cuup is an exciting addition to the FullBeauty Brands portfolio,” he continued. “Cuup enables us to further tap into the growing intimates addressable market, extends our reach among a new demographic of customers, and expands our offerings to our existing customers.”
Fogarty told Sourcing Journal FullBeauty will need about two months to integrate Cuup into its new digital mall platform, where Eloquii, June+Vie and Swimsuits for All get top billing. The rest of FullBeauty’s brand portfolio, including OneStopPlus, Catherines, WomanWithin, Jessica London and Roaman’s, among others, operate on what the company refers to as its “classic” platform.
The company isn’t disclosing details of the transaction, and Cuup executives who are staying have already transitioned into into key category roles.
Fogarty said the company will scale Cuup, which could someday collaborate or cross-market with the Eloquii. And because digitally fluent Gen X and millennial Cuup customers respond well to “quick video snippets” and snackable reel-style clips, not to mention text messaging, this could help FullBeauty expand beyond its traditional email program into progressive social marketing.
Cuup in March stuck a wholesale partnership with Bloomingdale’s, which Fogarty said will continue and could expand to other retail accounts. In contrast, Eloquii had tested popups after previously operating a handful of freestanding stores, but ended those under Walmart’s ownership. That could change as FullBeauty looks at expansion opportunities. The two young brands could also get into print marketing, an area where FullBeauty excels.
Cuup manufactures most of its products in China, but Fogarty said FullBeauty’s global sourcing network including China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Madagascar, Mauritius, India and Indonesia could unlock new diversification opportunities. The company will always balance cost efficiencies against execution, value and great product, he added..
Fogarty said FullBeauty regularly entertains potential acquisitions.
“We look at the overall addressable market, the TAM, and we felt like we were doing a really good job on the boomer piece. That’s still a really important piece of the business,” Fogarty said. “We wanted to expand and move into this Gen X-millennial [market], and that’s Eloquii and Cuup.”
Fogarty pointed out that FullBeauty isn’t abandoning its boomer base. “We’re going to still look at [all the options]. If we find a great business to plug in and it gets us more market share in the boomer segment, we would absolutely do that too,” he said.
There’s no shortage of possibilities for FullBeauty to consider. “Yes, we are seeing more companies who want to do something, or need to do something,” he said. “The value in this market is that the valuations are better.”
Despite the current economic uncertainty, “this is probably the best time to try to do acquisitions,” Fogarty. “So that’s the mindset we’re taking, but we don’t want to get carried away where we do it and mess up our main business. We’re carefully doing it, we definitely are seeing more opportunity and we’re trying to stay nimble.”
Julie Carnevale, Eloquii’s co-founder and now Eloquii brand leader, heads up FullBeauty’s new digital mall. She will oversee Cuup’s development.
