Sowing economic seeds

Austin fixing to get more jobs from online personal shopping retailer

Stitch Fix is bringing more jobs to Austin.

Photo courtesy of Stitch Fix

Online personal shopper and clothing retailer Stitch Fix is fashioning a plan to add jobs in lower-cost places like Austin and Dallas while laying off more than 1,400 employees in pricey California.

San Francisco-based Stitch Fix is laying off 1,424 stylists in Northern and Southern California and hiring about 2,000 stylists in the less expensive cities of Austin, Dallas, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh. The company’s part-time stylists pick out clothing for customers who then can buy or reject those items through the Stitch Fix subscription service.

In a company memo, Stitch Fix says that “it does not make financial sense to maintain a large styling team in California.”

The Stitch Fix hiring surge comes at a critical time, as millions of Americans have been left jobless by pandemic shutdowns and the U.S. economy has almost certainly plunged into a recession. At the same time, employers are cutting back on hiring as a money-saving measure.

Austin is among Stitch Fix’s “stylist hubs.” The company is starting the hiring wave this summer; it’ll extend into 2021.

Stitch Fix employs about 5,100 stylists. The layoffs, which will take place through the end of September, represent about 18 percent of the company’s workforce. Laid-off stylists will be given the chance to keep their jobs by relocating to U.S. locations outside California.

“Any decision that impacts our hardworking and talented people is incredibly tough, but we believe this is the right thing to do for our business,” Katrina Lake, founder and CEO of Stitch Fix, says in a statement.

Stitch Fix says the California job cuts aren’t related to the coronavirus pandemic, but rather are part of the company’s review of expenses.

The company’s layoffs and hiring shift were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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Dior and More

3 major luxury fashion brands move into famous North Austin mall

Zimmermann/Instagram

Zimmermann is one of the new stores at The Domain.

Three major luxury brands are now open at The Domain: Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Zimmermann. The famous Austin mall has been angling more toward luxury in the past few years.

Although it is common for The Domain to add multiple shops at once, these are unusually big names to be packaged together. This is also a significant development because although items from these brands may have been available around town, these three stores appear to be the only standalone stores for their respective brands in Austin.

A press release announcing the openings gives the most information about the Balenciaga store, which is 6,137 square feet and will carry men's and women's styles, shoes, bags, accessories, eyewear, and jewelry. The façade is made of a composite material combining glass, porcelain, and quartz, and the release says "the store’s construction is careful to respect existing elements," which is to say they did not completely rebuild the storefront. This store is located at Century Oaks Terrace and Agave Lane.

Dior will also feature collections for women and men, as envisioned by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Kim Jones, respectively. Dior emphasizes timelessness and is located next to Agave Park.

Finally, the store fewer Austinites might be familiar with: Zimmermann. The Australian brand is known for flouncy dresses, often in pastels and florals. Its ready-to-wear items are usually priced lower than ready-to-wear by Balenciaga or Dior, but it is still a luxury brand with luxury prices. It is located on Century Oaks Terrace.

Despite a stated interest in attracting luxury brands, the most talked-about development for The Domain in 2024 was a new location for Loro, the casual "Asian Smokehouse" by Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue and Tyson Cole of Uchi. The mall is also welcomed a smaller Ikea store last year.