Women’s Health Publisher Rodale Inc. Launches New Online Store

And it's sort of confusing. Also: expensive.

By Emily Leaman· 5/20/2013, 1:52 p.m.

I just got an email from the folks over at Rodale, the Emmaus-based publisher that puts out Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Prevention and more, touting a just-launched online store called Rodale’s (naturally) that offers “stylish, well-made and consciously curated items across most retail categories that include apparel; accessories and beauty; kitchen and garden; fitness; bed and bath; gifts and books; and general care.”

To be honest, all those retail categories confused the pants off me (like, does Rodale have a secret bedding magazine I don’t know about?), but it’s the prices that just had me choking on my lunch. For example, this organic cotton long-sleeve t-shirt is $80. This boxy scoop neck tee, made of a hemp-organic cotton blend, is $118, and this ultra-basic racerback tank is $60. There’s more: These (kind of ugly) jersey shorts are $80, and this shawl-like cardigan, again made of organic cotton, will set you back $190.

I get that some of these items have brand-name labels, and that Rodale’s is going for the whole upscale/high-end/luxury thing. I mean, it’s no accident that the site’s merchandising director, Michele Barbone, has Saks and Anthropologie on her resume. But at the end of the day, these are clothes I’m going to sweat in—or wear immediately after I’ve sweated my face off—so am I really going to pay $118 for a t-shirt? No.

Here’s a sampling of some of the other products site has to offer (notice the Goop.com-like similarities in the sheer variety here):

Feather wand cat toy, $8.

Linen shower curtain, $214.

Lavender tooth powder, $16.

Smoke: New Firewood Cooking book, $40.

Water carafe, $56.

On the bright side, at least shipping is free.