A Chicago real estate startup that helps e-commerce brands open brick-and-mortar stores is gearing up for a year of growth as shopping districts welcome people back.
Leap, founded in 2018 by Jared Golden and Amish Tolia, operates 13 retail locations in cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco, and is planning to open three more this year in Chicago and several more throughout the country.
The startup has opened stores for brands like Faherty in the Gold Coast and Upwest in Lincoln Park, as well as Goodlife and Something Navy in New York. Leap’s first Chicago store was an outpost for Italian sneaker brand Koio, but the shop has since closed down.
“Our brand customers are desiring to deploy stores in a modern format,” Golden said. “Our mission is to empower other entrepreneurs in building their brand.”
Working with Leap allows e-commerce brands to more easily open customized, brick-and-mortar locations. By charging daily operating fees, Leap takes care of everything for a brand, from procuring and signing leases, designing and staffing locations, to setting up point-of-sale systems. Leap says it can open stores for cheaper than brands doing it themselves.
“We’ve built the infrastructure already and we have a pipeline of locations ready to deploy,” Golden said. “It’s much faster and much more cost efficient.”
On average, Leap can open a store in less than 60 days, Golden said, and leases range up to seven years, depending on the market and brand. Golden said landlords like working with Leap because the startup's business model fosters lease retention.
“We are appealing to the landlord as a lower risk tenant because we’re really resilient,” Golden said.
To help Leap expand to new cities, the startup raised a $3 million round in 2018 led by Palo Alto, California-based Costanoa Ventures. Leap now has a corporate team of about 40 people.
