Lucy returns to the web, this time with a chain backing it up

It was a dot-com, then it was a dot-com and a store, then it was just a store, then it was a chain of stores, now it’s a chain and a dot-com again.

Lucy, retailer of women’s activewear that opened online in November 1999, is back online. "Do you know of any other brand that launched as a dot-com, shifted its strategy to brick-and-mortar stores, and then returned to the web?" says CEO Mike Edwards. "This evolution is proof that Lucy is a winning concept."

Portland, OR-based Lucy went offline to focus on its store in February 2001. Beth Zappitello, director of marketing and one of the founding Lucy team members, says customers have been asking for the re-launched web site since the original site shut down.

Since the site shut down, Lucy has opened 14 stores in the Western U.S.: eight in California, two in Seattle, two in Arizona, one in Texas and its flagship store in Portland, OR. It is planning another store this year.

Lucy still uses its orange motif for its new web site. The company sells brand name activewear as well as a house label.