After a frustrating day of outlet shopping, rummaging through bins of disorganized, two-season old designer clothing, E. Kenneth Seiff knew there must be a better way.
The founder and CEO of Pivot Rules, a leader in golf apparel, recognized that traditional outlet stores that sold off-price designer apparel were not offering the type of shopping experience consumers have come to expect. They were, in fact, reducing it to a tedious chore. Seiff saw the solution in the Internet, a significant untapped source for retailing off-price merchandise apparel and home furnishings.
With extensive consumer research, combined with a sixth sense of emerging new markets and trends, he saw that the next logical way to offer consumers off-price designer apparel and home accessories was just a click away. The time was right to launch the Internet retail site called Bluefly.com.
With the speed of a fly, the company developed a business plan for launching Bluefly.com and by June 1998, was in full force developing design concepts and writing code for the soon-to-be-launched website. The initial concept, which continues to unfold, remains today - a lifestyle brand on the Internet that offers consumers top designer brands in a fun, friendly, smart and stylish way.
As the hardest working summer for the launch team came to a close, Bluefly.com opened its cyber doors and began selling brand name designer apparel at significant discount prices.
Today, to translate the successful shopping experience to the Internet, Bluefly features a dynamic design, superior customer service, and the most advanced search technology available through an online apparel store. In addition, Bluefly.com offers enjoyable fashion features, news-you-can-use and timely fashion tips.
Yet, Bluefly.com didn't just hatch out of the proverbial blue. Ken has a history of identifying emerging markets and creating companies to address them, long before the competition. In fact, Bluefly.com's previous incarnation was the successful golf apparel company called Pivot Rules, which broke the mold of stereotypical golf apparel by designing and marketing a line of golfwear for the front nine and the back yard. However, with the competitive retail landscape and a desire to grow beyond the traditional channels of distribution, Seiff identified the Internet as a thriving opportunity for his creative and innovative vision.