Guess Focuses On Growth

NANTUCKET, MA-The Guess jeans brand is known by 93% of the consumers in the US, and now company executives want their retail chain to gain as much exposure, said Carlos Alberini, the retailer’s president and COO said at Wachovia Securities’ 15th Annual Nantucket Conference for investors. The company, which has 189 Guess retail stores in the country, could boost that number to 350 eventually, he said.

Los Angeles-based Guess, which has 298 units in the US and Canada including all of its concepts, has launched two chains in the last year and will consider further expansion by the end of the year. One of them, Marciano, is at a higher price point than Guess and geared toward a more “sophisticated” customer, Alberini said. That chain currently has 10 units and the potential for a total of 100 to 200, he said.

The other new concept is Guess Accessories, which also operates 10 stores. Alberini said there is plenty of room for the expansion of this chain, and drew comparisons to Coach, but did not give a total number of units. “We are reaching into a new customer base,” Alberini said.