Goodbye for Nau

rob May 5th, 2008

It’s with deep sadness that I received email from the Bellevue store manager, that NAU has had to cease operations.  The blurb on their website informs us that they could not raise the necessary funds to continue to move forward.  I suspect this is an especially tricky time for retailers who must raise lots of capitol to design and build out their inventories way in advance of a sale.   For a limited time they will continue operations on the website and they have a 50% off sale.

For those who don’t know them, NAU was an exceptionally innovative small company, socially and environmentally driven they donated 5% of every purchase to a environmental, social or humanitarian partners.  They innovated with an in-store experience touch screen console where you could try on clothes in store and save money by having it shipped to your home directly.  There was lots of other innovations in the clothes themselves they developed 24 new fabrics focused on sustainability, performance and beauty.  The design aesthetic always  emphasized an elegant simplicity with great attention to details of cuts, seams, stitching.  

Nau where also very helpful in assisting us with the development of our NAU concept e-commerce experience and frankly they just seemed like some great people, who were not just making great clothes but making a big difference in the process.   Bugger.

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