The Real Reason The Kardashians Are Closing DASH Stores

It seems these days the Kardashians are working to rid themselves of DASH stores.
Following the closure of their Soho boutique late last year, a series of rumors have started
circulating about the fate of the franchise and their two remaining locations.
Are DASH stores closing because of dwindling profits, or is harassment to blame?
It turns out there's no single reason for the closings of certain DASH boutiques.
There are several possible explanations — most of which come by way of the Kardashians themselves.
So let's get to the bottom of what's going on with the Kardashians' disappearing DASH
stores.
Pricey positioning
If you visit the official DASH website, you'll note that the New York location is "permanently
closed."
According to the Page Six, the store was "quietly shuttered" in December 2016.
So what went wrong?
Allegedly, the high cost of renting the space might be to blame.
Back in 2014, The Real Deal revealed that the Soho space cost the Kardashians upwards
of $1.4 million per year.
We can only imagine the costs of maintaining the location continued to rise.
The high rent might not be a problem if DASH was a hugely successful franchise, but in
Khloé Kardashian's own words, that's not been the case.
It seems Kardashian clan just wasn't interested in salvaging this pricey location.
"We've had the f**ing store for four million years!
Literally!"
Outdated offerings
The season 13 premiere episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians saw Kourtney Kardashian
and family friend Jonathan Cheban visit the New York DASH location.
They were less than impressed with the state of the store, making its closing no shocker
in retrospect.
Kourtney even called big sister Kim to complain about the boutique's drab state.
"It's so 2009.
Like, I don't even have the words to explain."
"Shut up."
With the products at DASH apparently several years behind current trends — which is a
lifetime in the fast-paced fashion industry — it's no wonder the franchise was struggling
to keep up, making closures all but inevitable.
Branding bites
The DASH closings seem to signal a harsh truth for the Kardashian family: the public just
isn't as interested in their brand as it once was.
It's a scary reality, considering that even as recently as 2014 there were long lines
of excited customers.
Throngs of onlookers hoped to catch a glimpse of the famous Kardashians.
Things are different just a few short years later.
It wasn't too long ago that DASH openings were enough to warrant spin-off reality TV
shows.
But with TV show ratings at an all-time low, it seems the buying public just isn't interested.
Haters and vandals
The DASH stores are a sort of physical manifestation of all things Kardashian.
Unfortunately, many who happen to hate the Kardashians have expressed their feelings
by vandalizing their stores.
In 2009, at least one vandal targeted the Miami DASH location — and the store wasn't
even officially open to the public yet!
As Kourtney explained, "Lily, our store employee, who is with us in Miami for the opening, arrived
this morning and discovered that the store window had been vandalized with graffiti.
All of the graffiti on the wall was gang-related and there were carvings in the glass.
All in all, the damage is pretty bad, but they're painting over it now!"
She also shared that nothing was taken from the store, and that it likely wasn't a targeted
attack.
The same couldn't be said for the attempted arson at the Los Angeles DASH boutique.
According to TMZ, witnesses saw a man "[throw] a weighted, burning rag through the West Hollywood
storefront window."
The June 2016 incident didn't result in too much damage outside of a broken window because
the rag "burned itself out."
It reportedly was weighed down by a bottle of lighter fluid found inside the store.
TMZ later reported that vandals targeted the same Los Angeles DASH less than a year later.
The location even had to contend with theft, as an unidentified woman made off with $1,600
worth of merchandise.
It just seems like bad things keep happening to these stores.
Profitability peak
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the ongoing DASH dilemma is how much work the
Kardashians put into the franchise.
In a heartfelt confession, Khloé Kardashian shared that she and her sisters worked very
hard to keep DASH afloat, often struggling with a lack of funds.
She wrote,
"We started DASH in 2006 and really struggled for a long time to make it a successful business.
There were months we couldn't pay our bills, and the store didn't turn a profit for years
… but we were really determined and kept working at it [and] eventually, it paid off."
However, Kourtney Kardashian herself noted in Keeping Up With The Kardashians that the
stores are struggling to stay relevant and on-trend.
If DASH stores' best days are behind them, then what does that mean for the Kardashian
franchise as a whole?
Time to cut and run?
According to Kim, the ladies were given an offer they couldn't refuse for their DASH
stores' future.
"This major department store wants to buy Dash and put a Dash store in each one of their
huge department stores."
"that would be so cool."
While Kourtney was less enthused about the idea of walking away from the stores that
gave them their start, Kim and Khloe were fully onboard.
Sure, Dash has strong sentimental value, but they can't keep sinking cash into a flailing
business.
For now, it seems the Kardashian sisters have decided to hang on to certain locations while
saying goodbye to the SoHo store for good.
However, should things grow more dire for the business, it's entirely possible the sisters
may cave and agree to sell their remaining DASH stores.
In the meantime, the Kardashians really could continue to growth their virtual marketplace
and sell more of their merchandise online.
So, no matter what happens to rest of the DASH stash, those goodies will still be available
to Kardashian fans for a long time to come.
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The Real Reason The Kardashians Are Closing DASH Stores

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