Why is Walmart buying up brands?

Walmart is buying up a lot of brands that don't really feel like Walmart. 

The big box store is reportedly about to close a deal to buy Bonobos, the men's e-commerce brand. Recode reported news of the impending acquisition on Friday. Exactly how much Bonobos will go for hasn't been confirmed yet. 

The deal would come one month after Walmart bought ModCloth, the quirky women's online retailer. That acquisition came with a host of controversy, since ModCloth was once seen in stark opposition to Walmart — as a small, size-inclusive brand that supported independent designers. Walmart didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Mashable. 

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Bonobos was founded in 2007, as a place to buy dress pants for athletic men. Now, the brand sells many other kinds of men's clothing, and was valued at $300 million in 2014. 

The acquisition spree is the work of Marc Lore, the president and CEO of Walmart's U.S. e-commerce division. Lore founded Jet.com, which was basically the only real U.S. competitor to Amazon. Walmart bought Jet.com and poached Lore in August. 

Lore has been building up Walmart's e-commerce operation to turn the retailer into a major player against Amazon. Walmart introduced free shipping comparable to what Amazon offers customers who aren't Prime members and just last week added discounts for in-store pickup of online orders — something Amazon doesn't really have the physical presence to do. 

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Along with making plays against Amazon, Walmart will now own specialized brands whose customers probably don't shop too often at regular Walmart. 

So if you want to buy something from ModCloth or Bonobos, get ready to support Walmart. Or try Amazon. 

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