Vineyard Vines

Vineyard Vines is an American clothing and accessory retailer founded in 1998 on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, by brothers Shep and Ian Murray. The brand markets upper market ties, hats, belts, shirts, shorts, swimwear, bags for men, women, and children. It has grown to a collection of retail stores and outlets across the United States. The company's main logo is a pink whale. Their clothing is considered preppy.[1]

Vineyard Vines
TypePrivate
FoundedJuly 3, 1998 (1998-07-03)
FounderShep & Ian Murray (Brothers)
Headquarters
181 Harbor Drive, Stamford, Connecticut
,
United States
Number of locations
100+
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsClothing and accessories
OwnerShep and Ian Murray
WebsiteVineyard Vines

History

Shep and Ian Murray grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and spent their summers on Martha's Vineyard, where they were introduced to the coastal lifestyle of sailing, fishing, and boating. The two brothers originally held jobs in New York City, but soon grew tired of the corporate lifestyle.[2] Ian claims the duo "traded in [their] business suits for bathing suits" and “started making neckties so [they] didn’t have to wear them.” Before quitting their jobs, the two brothers opened credit cards so they could buy silk and launch Vineyard Vines. The company's entire startup capital was raised from the brothers' accrued credit card debt. Shep and Ian sold their neckties on Martha's Vineyard, selling out of a backpack from their boat or Jeep rather than a storefront. Initially, they offered four different styles of ties. After they sold 800 ties on a single weekend in July, Shep and Ian quickly re-ordered more, paid off their accrued debt, and moved into a new office. The Murray brothers claim that the business was founded through a philosophy of "living the good life," which is reflected by their slogan "Every day should feel this good." Shep Murray claims his goal is to be "a cross between Warren Buffett and Jimmy Buffett" in building the "lifestyle brand" he founded.[3] Vineyard Vines is still owned outright by the two Murray brothers.[4]

Expansion

Since the summer of 1998, the Vineyard Vines company has expanded nationally, particularly along the East Coast. Vineyard Vines has opened numerous company, outlet, and retail stores. In addition to these traditional channels, Vineyard Vines has expanded its sales to online shoppers. The company manufactures licensed NFL and MLB product, which it sells through its retail channels. Vineyard Vines also manufactures licensed college apparel, which is sold primarily through campus stores. Vineyard Vines was placed on Inc. magazine's list of the 5000 fastest-growing businesses in the U.S. in 2007. Between 2004 and 2007, the relatively new company's revenue tripled.[5]

  • In 2015, the company inaugurated a new headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.[6]
  • In 2016 Vineyard Vines sold 476 million dollars.[3] In that same year the company was reportedly valued at one billion dollars by Goldman Sachs.[7]
  • In 2019, Target Corporation offered a 300-product limited edition Vineyard Vines collection in stores and online.[8][9] The campaign drew some criticism from customers, as many items sold out within an hour.[10]
  • All Vineyard Vines stores were temporarily closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

Stores
A Vineyard Vines store in Manhattan

The first stores were opened in Northeastern locations associated with the sea such as Martha's Vineyard. The first was in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, followed by Greenwich, Connecticut. The company has expanded to more than 100 stores across the U.S. states and the brand is sold by over 600 other retailers.[12][13]

An age and gender discrimination lawsuit was filed in mid June 2020 in federal court in Connecticut by a former senior vice president. The lawsuit also names the co-founders and co-CEO’s of the privately held company. “It appears to be an environment increasingly marked by age and gender discrimination and that was by design. As the complaint states, it was coming from the founders and the president of the company.” [14]

The complaint details the particulars of the firing of the company’s head of stores and the company culture that she alleges led to it, including a desire by the founders to replace older, female store employees with younger men. [15] [16]

A group of consumers filed a lawsuit on Sept. 9 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Vineyard Vines LLC. The lawsuit alleges Vineyard Vines misleads shoppers about quality, pricing of outlet products. The plaintiffs allege that the defendant's outlet and retail products, despite their similarity in appearance and classification, are misleading in pricing as the outlet products' pricing does not truly display the real suggested retail price identical to the price for the comparative product in the retail store. The plaintiffs allege the "invented price disparity" induces customers to purchase the outlet products and creates a feeling of savings, and increases the consumers' likelihood to purchase the product. The plaintiffs also allege consumers are led to believe that the outlet products are identical to the retail products without being informed that the products come from different manufacturing batches and are of lower quality than the true retail products. [17] [18]

References
  1. Maidenberg, Micah (27 May 2014). "Prepster clothing chain expands in Mag Mile move". Chicago Real Estate Daily. Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  2. English, Micaela (18 August 2015). "How To Vineyard Like Shep and Ian Murray of Vineyard Vines". Town & Country Magazine.
  3. Bertoni, Steven. "How Vineyard Vines Built A Giant Brand Without Raising A Penny Of Equity". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  4. Milford, Maureen (16 August 2015). "Whale war: Vineyard Vines, Rehoboth shop clash over logo". The News Journal. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. "Vineyard Vines". Inc. 5000. Inc. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  6. Bhasin, Kim (6 May 2015). "Vineyard Vines' Lavish New HQ Is the Preppiest Office in America". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  7. Bertoni, Steven (30 April 2018). "How Vineyard Vines Built A Giant Brand Without Raising A Penny Of Equity". Forbes. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  8. Tyko, Kelly (May 31, 2019). "Target's Vineyard Vines: It's not impossible to find items. Here's how and where to save". USA Today. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  9. Van Abbema, Alex (February 28, 2019). "Target teams with preppy fashion label Vineyard Vines". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  10. Lam, Katherine (19 May 2019). "Target customers angered after some Vineyard Vines items sell out quickly". Fox Business.
  11. Schott, Paul (March 16, 2020). "Stamford-based Vineyard Vines temporarily closes all stores due to coronavirus". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  12. "What you need to know before going into business with family" (Video). Business Insider. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  13. Tyko, Kelly (31 May 2019). "Target's Vineyard Vines: It's not impossible to find items. Here's how and where to save". USA Today.
  14. "Federal lawsuit alleges ageist, sexist culture at Vineyard Vines". Courant News. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  15. "Discrimination Claim Filed in Federal Court Against Vineyard Vines". Vineyard Gazette. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  16. "Vineyard Vines, clothing company with CT roots, sued for discrimination". CT Insider. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  17. "Lawsuit Alleges Vineyard Vines Misleads Shoppers about quality and pricing of outlet products". Legal Newsline. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  18. "Class Action Alleges Vineyard Vines Outlet Store Products Marked with False Reference Prices". Class Action Org. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
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