The Backroom: Why is Walmart selling off so many DTC brands?

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Marking a shift in strategy for the retail giant, Walmart has moved to sell three brands over the course of just a few months. Outdoor retailer Moosejaw, men’s apparel brand Bonobos and plus-sized clothing company Eloquii are all leaving the retailer at a time when Walmart is focusing more on its core business.

In particular, the sale of Bonobos comes with a high cost, as Walmart has agreed to sell it for about $235 million less than what it originally bought it for six years ago.

Walmart acquired Moosejaw, Eloquii and Bonobos around the same time frame between 2017 and 2018. During this period, the mass retailer had also invested in a slew of e-commerce companies including Jet, Modcloth and Shoes.com.

But since then, Walmart has shut down or offloaded most of those companies as well. In this episode of The Backroom, reporters Daphne Howland and Dani James discuss what this means for Walmart’s strategy going forward.