Online fashion startup Grana has opened its first permanent physical store as it tries a new way of ensuring clothes fit the customers who order them.

The new 1300 sqft store in Sheung Wan is branded The Fitting Room. It’s a unique hybrid retail concept, allowing customers to try a garment on, then buy clothes online instore for delivery to home or collection later in-store.

While customers can try clothes on and see the styles first hand, they cannot purchase clothes from the store and take them home immediately.

It aims to address the problem of online shoppers returning goods because they don’t fit, or because they don’t consider their purchase matches the colour or style of what they saw online.

Grana is the creation of Australian Luke Grana, who was inspired by the high quality of t-shirts he came across during a trip to Peru. The site was developed with a unique business model in mind – in Grana’s own words “high-quality fashion at disruptive prices”.

“Our business model is a little bit different; we deal directly with fabric mills instead of going through distributors or agents. Also, by operating online, we don’t have to pay rent. So when fashion retailers put in mark-ups along the way, our pricing is really simple: each of our shirts cost US$6, we retail that for US$12; jeans are US$20, we sell that for US$40. It’s a really honest and transparent pricing model and I think that’s what our, Generation Y customers prefer.”

Of the new Sheung Wan store, Grana observes: “We bring together the best of two shopping worlds for a unique hybrid experience. Our customers can receive the tailored customer service and interaction that only a bricks-and-mortar location can provide, but with the ease of online purchasing.”

Grana says similar hybrid stores are now being considered for Australia and the US.

The new store is located at 108 Hollywood Rd, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.