Away CEO Jen Rubio expands the travel brand beyond luggage

Courtesy of Away

The company was valued at over $1 billion with more than $200 million in funding before the pandemic. In 2020, cofounder and CEO Steph Korey stepped down following allegations of a toxic work environment. Rubio, also a cofounder but with a focus on branding and marketing, took over as CEO a year later. The company conducted layoffs during the pandemic and now has a headcount of about 250.

Rubio and I spoke over Zoom last week, shortly after she’d returned from a trip to Italy. (“Just like everyone else this summer,” she joked.) While Rubio is among the cohort to choose trans-Atlantic travel this summer, she wants to serve a wider array of customers.

Away began work on its new outdoors line, F.A.R., 18 months before its June debut. Part of the challenge for consumer businesses in this stage of the pandemic has been figuring out which trends are temporary and which are here to stay. Away is betting that the increase in outdoor travel is a permanent consumer shift. The company says that since the launch of the F.A.R. line it has seen customers’ lifetime value increase “significantly” from a previous customer average two or three purchases. Its suitcases start at $275 and sell for as much as $745, while its new outdoor bags start at $150. Rubio expects these outdoor travel products to eventually make up one-fourth of the company’s business.

Courtesy of Away

While outdoor travel has increased in popularity since 2020, it remains an intimidating prospect for some. “I was one of those people who was intimidated to go into an REI,” Rubio recalls of her pandemic move to Colorado. The F.A.R. line is meant to be approachable, she says, with its bright colors and activity-based advertising, for the hardcore trekker and new hiker alike. The line also has a higher share of male customers than Away’s core offerings do.

F.A.R.’s launch is Away’s first foray into a significant new category—but not its last. Rubio envisions the company developing new products to serve luxury travelers and participants in wellness retreats. “It’s really exciting to branch out,” she says.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

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PARTING WORDS

“I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special, and that they should be a princess in every single way. There’s no reason that they shouldn’t be. That reassurance was something that I needed.”

–Actor and singer Halle Bailey on the importance of becoming the second Black Disney princess for her upcoming role in The Little Mermaid.

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