'There were multiple times I thought maybe we won't make it': M.M.LaFleur CEO Sarah LaFleur on the women's wear brand's new store strategy

After a difficult 2020 and 2021, women's work apparel brand M.M.LaFleur is once again in growth mode.

The company is investing in new stores and showrooms, and says that sales are picking up again after business cratered during the pandemic.

"There were multiple times where I thought maybe we won't make it, maybe the business won't survive," said founder and CEO Sarah LaFleur. She joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the company's new focus on stores and how it's positioning its overall marketing going forward.

M.M.LaFleur is celebrating its 10th anniversary. And its trajectory as an online business provides a great glimpse into the changing dynamics digital brands face. It first launched with a subscription model with the aim of bringing women into the fold and giving them a variety of options to try out every month. While the intent wasn't to solely be a subscription business, M.M.LaFleur was known as one for years.

During this time, the brand relied on all the old digital acquisition strategies to grow. "I remember there was a time where we used to acquire customers for $16 per customer -- I mean, it was kind of crazy," LaFleur said.

But then two big things happened: customer acquisition costs skyrocketed and the pandemic hit. Beginning in 2019, M.M.LaFleur stopped its subscription business. And it also worked to diversify its marketing budget.

Now, LaFleur said that stores have become one of its best-performing customer acquisition channels. "The thought there was let's shift our acquisition channel to now be from something else, and [using] our stores [as] a source of acquisition," she said.

The company uses two types of retail models -- showrooms and ground-floor retail. The showrooms have long catered to power M.M.LaFleur customers, giving them an intimate environment in which to shop. Meanwhile, the larger, ground-floor retail formats are intended to catch people's eyes on the streets. It recently opened a ground-floor store in the Upper East Side, is about to launch another in the Upper West Side and has plans to open two more similar stores by the end of the year.

According to LaFleur, while these stores don't bring in the majority of revenue -- 90% of the company's sales still come from online -- this is where she really sees healthy growth coming from.

"In terms of where I'm putting my energy right now, I'm really focused on making sure that the stores we have right now are performing well," she said.