RYU’s Wholesale Strategy an Unprecedented Success with Addition of Former Saks Fifth Ave SVP, National Expansion, and New Partnerships with Wholesale Icons such as Zappos,[...]

Vancouver, BC, July 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RYU Apparel Inc. (TSXV: RYU) (OTCQB: RYPPF) (FWB: RYAA) ("RYU" "RYPPF" or the "Company"), a cutting-edge lifestyle brand, and creator of award-winning urban athletic apparel that facilitates human movement, is experiencing dramatic growth in its new wholesale strategy in Q2, 2022, exceeding previous forecast expectations.

This momentum is attributed to the addition of a key strategic wholesale agency partner on the East Coast with Thomas Ott, who has an extensive background in luxury, department store, and off price retailing, with oversight into all merchandise areas, and a majority of his career to date in luxury at Saks Fifth Avenue where he was SVP Men's , Home, & Concession. He joins DJM Global and Carraway and Co, two well established leaders in the US wholesale market, to lead RYU's push into strategic wholesale.

RYU is proud to announce new partnerships with several best-in-class wholesale accounts such as Nordstroms, Urban Outfitters, and Zappos. These key accounts supplement a strong wholesale roster which currently includes large partners such as Altitude Sports and Winners. Several additional partners have been identified and talks are underway to continue to expand the RYU wholesale business.

COO Rob Blair said "We're having conversations across the board with Equinox, Zappos, Sport Chek Canada, Altitude Sports, Nordstrom's, Backcountry.com, Indigo, and more. We've already taken half of those accounts and landed preliminary buys."

He added, "What we are doing is taking the category-pillar approach. We don't want to go in and be a mile-wide and an inch-thick. We want to go in and be meaningful to our partners to deliver the solutions that ultimately drive dollars per square foot in the retail environment."

RYU is building three main wholesale channels to scale their business through premium brand partners and volume retail partnerships. Each is designed to fill a particular need:

Traditional: Stockholding retailers (both brick + mortar and ecommerce) at standard keystone margins, focused on current season products.

Drop ship: Digital partners who will sell RYU products on their ecommerce storefronts through EDI (electronic data interchange) drop shipping; and

Clearance: Premium clearance partners to clear out old inventory.

For 2023, RYU's wholesale plan is to position its Impact collection as the go-to brand inside the sporting goods channels, reaching accounts such as REI, Scheel's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Academy Sports. RYU also sees an opportunity to bring the luxury Rebel collection in 2024 to REI, Simons in Canada and Bloomingdale's while expanding the Terry collection to The Buckle. For 2024, the goal is to reach the selling floors of Macy's and Urban Outfitters. "RYU also sees an opportunity to a reimaged Technical Street offering," states COO Rob Blair, "the Rebel is the culmination of our design DNA in accessible luxury and athleisure and this technical street style will evolve RYU's look to speak to a key consumer audience."

Cesare Fazari, CEO, added "The wholesale program is the results of strong partnership and brand building work RYU has developed for years. Partners like the NFL Alumni Academy and its 40,000 members are a force multiplier for brand awareness. Combined with other partners like Zoom Media, the Canadian Skateboard Olympic Team, and 8000 gym locations, RYU is building momentum. These partnerships are creating the awareness to convert into large wholesale orders. With RYU's expansion into game and Esports, we're going to continue to drive strong awareness and demand for our product across North America."

Blair said about the wholesale push, "The exciting part of it is that everybody wants to talk to us. The feedback I'm constantly getting from the rep group and the sales leadership is that everybody's excited."

About RYU Apparel Inc.
RYU Apparel Inc. (TSXV: RYU, OTCQB: RYPPF), or Respect Your Universe, is a movement-focused apparel brand. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, we create multi-purpose clothing, bags and accessories for performance and everyday wear. RYU is an experiential omni-channel retailer and sells its products in Canada and the United States through strategic wholesale accounts and online via its e-commerce site http://ryu.com

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

This news release contains forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of RYU, such as statements that: RYU will sell products or receive media exposure as a result of new immersive retail systems. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and RYU's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including but not limited to adverse market conditions and the inability of RYU's wholesale plans to result in a positive contribution Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, RYU does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

RYU APPAREL INC.

Cesare Fazari
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
416-434-5750

Corporate Communications
[email protected]
www.ryu.com

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• RYU's New Partnerships with Wholesale Icons such as Zappos, Urban Outfitters, Nordstroms, and Others

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