More pure-play e-tailers are discovering the benefits of the physical channel. The Tie Bar is a case in point. Formed online in 2014, this Chicago-based seller of high-quality neckties and other menswear at reasonable prices is betting big on brick-and-mortar stores. Last year Tie Bar pop-up stores in Boston and New York City turned a profit. These stores were originally conceived as a marketing ploy, but the retailer has since converted them into permanent stores. This year Tie Bar will open additional permanent stores in Chicago and in four other cities, with still others in the planning for 2019.

“We’ve discovered that men who buy both online and in-store end up being our most valuable customers,” CEO Allyson Lewis told Fast Company. “So we are carefully studying where our customers live, what they are buying and where potential customers are located.”