To many, Rent The Runway is a fashion company. But behind the scenes, it is fundamentally a technology company as well, according to Chief Technology Officer Josh Builder.
In fact, the company “doesn’t exist without technology, it doesn’t scale without technology,” Builder told Cheddar at SXSW. “And it’s really up to us to make sure that the customer doesn’t even notice any of that.”
RTR’s inventory is constantly moving in and out of its warehouses from brands to customers then back to its warehouses for dry cleaning. That process is then complicated further by the different rental plans the company offers, including an unlimited package where users can return pieces at any time.
To keep all those wheels spinning seamlessly, the company relies heavily on data and technology.
“We run the largest reverse logistics platform coupled with a dry cleaning business in the world,” explained Builder.
RTR is poised to open another facility in Dallas, Tex., which it will then need to integrate into its current systems. “For us, that’s a pretty big technological undertaking.”
Additionally, the company is also “constantly looking at...how to evolve the way we handle shipping. How to break up first, medium, and last mile, and really start to own the distribution network as we drive towards more and more real-time service.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rent-the-runway-raises-millions-in-vc-funding).
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
