Who owns wet seal

We're more than just an outfit, we're an inspiration. With Bronstein in charge, Wet Seal pressed on with expansion for the remainder of , but by the end of the year, when the company reported its second consecutive decline in annual profit totals, signs of trouble were evident. Following this disheartening news, the company expanded only modestly in , adding four stores as sales throughout the chain began to dip. By the end of the year, alarms were blaring loudly at the company's headquarters.

You've got to know when to pull the plug. While expansion had continued, bringing the company's store count total up to by the end of , consumers had lost interest in junior apparel, sending a shock wave throughout the industry.

Fashion tastes had changed and Wet Seal had not foreseen the shift, a mistake that thrust the company into a precarious position as it entered the mids. In early , the company discovered what it perceived as a solution to its financial woes, a solution Bronstein described as an "unbelievable break.

Wet Seal, as its annual report declared, "went shopping for just the right fit" and Contempo Casuals, a specialty women's retail chain that had flourished during the s, was selected. With stores scattered throughout 34 states and Puerto Rico, Contempo Casuals represented a significant addition to Wet Seal's operations, nearly tripling the company's size and immediately transforming it into a genuine national retailer.

Positive early results prompted the company to push forward with the concept and make plans to incorporate "The Girl's Room" into stores nationwide. Other plans for the late s included the establishment of as many as ten new stores in , but the primary focus after the Contempo Casuals acquisition was on improving sales and profitability.

With this as its chief objective, Wet Seal entered the late s intent on wielding its new-found national power to become a dominant force in the U. In , it appeared that Wet Seal was indeed on the brink of a new era of profitability.

For the first time since , the company was back in the black, thanks largely to its Contempo Casuals division. In November , Wet Seal introduced a new store concept, Limbo Lounge, a "unisex" outlet that featured urban clothes for teenaged men and women in an "entertainment" setting that included TV screens, Internet access, and in one case, a juice bar.

Two locations were opened in California. Wet Seal planned to continue operations under the Rampage brand name. In July , the company acquired more stores including 78 from Herndon, Virginia-based Britches Great Outdoors for an undisclosed sum and 19 Episode stores from Philadelphia maternity wear chain Mothers Work Inc.

The acquisitions poised Wet Seal for the opening of Arden B. This success evaporated in when bad merchandising decisions sent Wet Seal stores customers to competitors.

Crew, and American Eagle Outfitters, the company remerchandised its flagship stores with preppy casual wear in place of the trendy clubwear styles it had long relied upon.

A Wet Seal catalogue first issued in was discontinued after a single year. Sales remained weak in despite modest improvements in March and November. Wet Seal decided to cease acquisitions for a time, close down its Limbo Lounge outlets, now 26 in number, convert nearly all of its Contempo Casuals stores into Wet Seal locations, and refocus on female fashion. Both Wet Seal stores and Arden B. Wet Seal outlets were brightened up with open ceilings, more lighting, and glossy pink, blue, and white walls.

Some stores opened shoe departments and added mannequins. A separate merchandising and management team was put in place for Arden B. The efforts paid off; sales increased In , the company resumed acquisitions. Wet Seal paid an undisclosed amount to purchase 18 Zutopia stores from the children's wear retailer Gymboree Corp.

Zutopia extended Wet Seal's target market to include 5- to year-old children. CEO Kathy Bronstein told Kristin Young of Women's Wear Daily, "Strategically, it's our vision to pick [a customer] up when she's [age] five or six and drop her off somewhere between 50 and The company, flailing among its losses, reshuffled its executive team in recent years. Thomas had twice served as CEO for the retailer, first in and again in Contact the writer: hmadans ocregister.

Show Caption. By Hannah Madans hmadans scng. More in News. Yang explains that in a typical bankruptcy, a judge considers any debtor protections to be in the service of saving a company as a going concern and protecting jobs, enabling a retailers to wriggle out of leases for underperforming stores a batch at a time rather than renegotiating each lease, with creditors paid pennies on the dollar.

A spokesperson for Versa declined to comment for this story, and requests for comment from Retail Dive to Wet Seal weren't immediately returned. The hardcore scenario described by Davidowitz often comes about because of the less-than-favorable terms of the debt retailers take on from their private equity benefactors — debt that Yang compares to payday loans.

Wet Seal, The Limited — these are all stores that I shopped at as a teenager at the mall, but they were definitely overstored. If they could have gotten a loan under less onerous terms, they would have. The way teenagers shop is just different now. Follow Daphne Howland on Twitter. They are charismatic, smart and savvy.

But no one person can change an industry. Stores have always evolved in order to compete as times, technology and tastes change. And, most of all, to please customers. Keep up with the story. Subscribe to the Retail Dive free daily newsletter. Topics covered: retail tech, e-commerce, in-store operations, marketing, and more. Search x. An article from. Deep Dive. Published Jan. In the past, the Boston-based company has acquired failing retailers such as the Sharper Image and Polaroid.

Included in the sale are trademarks, domain names, customer databases and the e-commerce platform. The Wet Seal, headquartered in Irvine, Calif.