Oh Hey, Weddington Way
by Julie Van Vliet, Communications, Weddington Way
Gap Inc.
October 11, 2017
Get to know Weddington Way off the page, too, and be a part of a team that’s growing quickly and hiring now.
Remember when you used pay phones? Hardly, because Apple fixed that. Or when you lost touch with an old friend located across the country? Not really, because Facebook fixed that. What about asking family for a ride to the airport? Nope, Lyft fixed that.
Remember when you had to find the perfect bridesmaid dress with five of your friends located all over the world? Weddington Way is fixing that.
Solving consumer problems isn’t a new concept. Back in 1969 Don and Doris Fisher created Gap to help America find the perfect pair of jeans. What has changed is the frequency at which it’s happening; it feels like a day doesn’t pass without a new fix to an old problem.
San Francisco, with neighboring Silicon Valley, the same area that defined American style and culture in the 60s and 70s, is now the epicenter of game-changing ‘fixes.’ And although retail may not be the first industry that comes to mind when thinking about innovation, it’s one of the industries pushing it forward at an accelerated speed.
How do we know? Because Weddington Way, Gap Inc.’s newest brand, is upending the bridesmaid dress and special occasion shopping experience.
Starting as a female-led Silicon-Valley based company in 2012, Weddington Way pioneered collaborative commerce. Five years later, nothing and everything has changed. The company’s drive to evolve with the customer, starting and ending with what they want, is as strong as ever. And their vertically-integrated business is offering merchandise that is high-quality, and at the right price point.
And what’s changed even more, is Weddington Way’s ability to aggressively power their growth. Approaching their one-year anniversary as a part of Gap Inc., the nimble startup is infusing the scale of a portfolio of iconic brands with worldwide influence into their small-but-mighty business. And strategically partnering with Banana Republic to utilize real estate for Weddington Way shops is only the beginning.
“As part of Gap Inc. we have the resources of a large company, we can tap into that energy,” said Weddington Way founder and GM, Ilana Stern. “We have the unique opportunity to create the future of what an amazing customer experience looks like, and we can break and try and test and fail and win with confidence.”
The small Weddington Way HQ team fills their bright Brannan street office with the kind of inquisitive, limit-pushing spirit you’d expect to find in the presence of individuals significantly moving the needle in an industry ripe for innovation. When not at their Friday family lunches chatting about the personalities of their pets, you can find them discussing business strategy with other Gap Inc. brands, furiously improving the website UX or refining the Weddington Way shop experience.
“We’re a passionate group of people, and we respect each other,” said head of operations and product, Karishma Baijal. “Together we’re co-creating a vision for the future and everyone has something to bring to the table about where we go and how we get there.”
What started as a hunch, is now a full-fledged brand powered by passionate people and supported by a strong portfolio.
Remember when Weddington Way wasn’t a household name? We’re fixing that.
Sound like something you want to be a part of? Weddington Way is hiring. Check out open positions on our Careers page and join our team!
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