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SUFFERN, NY-Dress Barn Inc. could double its newly acquired Maurices chain from the 477 stores it currently operates, executives said yesterday during an investor conference. The locally based retailer closed on the $320 million Maurices acquisition at the beginning of the month.
Maurices has a core store base in the Midwest and is poised for growth in the Northeast and Southeast. The chain differs from Dress Barn in that it targets 17-year-old to 34-year-old females and 17-year-old to 24-year-old males. Dress Barn's main customer is 35 to 55 years old.
Maurices opened 45 stores last year and posted a same-stores sales increase of 7%. The chain is mainly in small markets under 100,000 in population where many major specialty competitors do not have stores. Maurices is priced similarly to Old Navy, but is at the fashion level of American Eagle Outfitters, executives outlined in the presentation.
Dress Barn, which operates 776 of its namesake stores mostly in the Northeast, has slower growth plans for that chain. Last year it opened 28 units and plans to open 14 this year. Dress Barns are mostly found in strip centers, but also have a presence in outlets and urban areas.
The chain has made many changes since the late 1990s. In 1997 it sold no merchandise under its own label. That increased to 35% in 2001, and currently 95% of the clothing Dress Barn offers is under its private label. "It's all about the merchandise," said Keith Fulsher, the company's SVP and chief merchandising officer. "Dress Barn is no longer a fashion follower. We're fashion current."
The company, which only advertised in weekly newspapers until 2003, is launching a national print campaign in March that will be in 11 consumer magazines and has beefed up its direct mail marketing. Dress Barn is also trying to increase its 2.9 million credit card holders. Consumers using those cards spend $75 per transaction, 33% more than other types of sales.
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