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.