Rent The Runway Freezes New Subscriptions

As the clothing platform encounters multiple supply chain and inventory issues, Rent the Runway isn’t taking on new subscribers or event rentals until Oct. 15 at the soonest.

Jennifer Hyman, co-founder and CEO, sent subscribers an e-mail Friday (Sept. 27), CNBC reported.

“I’m reaching out to further update you on delays that some of you have experienced in receiving your orders over the last few weeks,” Hyman said. “The delays, which began Sept. 13, are due to unforeseen issues associated with a significant software transformation that we are executing in our fulfillment operation.”

“So that we can focus entirely on you, our current customers, while we fix these issues, we will not be accepting new subscribers or new event rental orders to be delivered before Oct. 15,” she added.

The company has also reportedly begun to give as much as $200 in cash to shoppers who never got their orders. And Hyman reportedly sent an e-mail to existing shoppers last week as complaints began to arrive regarding late order deliveries and out-of-stock sizes.

Hyman reportedly said that Rent the Runway would be making “significant changes to our operation” in the weeks to come and that customers “should feel this improvement within the next three weeks.”

In separate news, Rent the Runway notched $125 million in funding in a round that brought in a $1 billion valuation for the company in March. Franklin Templeton Investments and Bain Capital Ventures led the investment.

“Shared, dynamic ownership is a movement that Rent the Runway has pioneered over the last decade and we’re excited to continue to lead the market and innovate our subscription service,” Hyman said in an announcement at the time.

The company reportedly planned to broaden its offerings, scale its business for subscriptions and open more fulfillment centers. As it stood at the time, the firm opened a brick-and-mortar location in September 2018 and had three offerings after growing from offering one-time rentals.