The company was awash in debt. The sweeping changes that transformed the company into one of the darlings of the California retail apparel industry during the s occurred midway through the decade when the struggling chain gained new management and a new owner. The purchase marked the beginning of years of robust growth and Wet Seal's ascendancy to prominence in the fiercely competitive California retail market. For assistance in arresting the chain's financial slide, Chilvers turned to Kathy Peckham, a former Jordan Marsh merchandising executive.
Peckham's changes were pervasive, essentially abolishing the strategy that had guided Wet Seal's existence during the s and s. She put together a merchandising mix designed to attract a much larger customer base, adding junior sportswear apparel items that quickly drew flocks of customers to the stores. Flowered denim, mini-skirts, colorful Aztec prints, and psychedelic bikinis graced Wet Seal's racks and shelves from the mids forward, drawing teenage girls in packs.
Surprisingly, their mothers came as well, unafraid to don the youthful fashion trends of the day. The metamorphosis worked, bringing in teenage customers and women in their late 40s. During the exponential growth that ensued, Chilvers was granted autonomy from his silent partners at Suzy Shier, gaining full control over all Wet Seal operations. Peckham, meanwhile, ascended to Wet Seal's executive vice-president and general merchandising manager posts, earning recognition for sparking growth that dazzled industry analysts.
While describing the chain's meteoric rise, one member of the business press who cited Joseph Magnin and Contempo Casuals as the retail success stories of the s and s, respectively, hailed Wet Seal as the "retail phenom" of the s, a distinction that few could discount given what the company had achieved during the latter half of the s. Most important, the company's profitability was restored, underscoring the importance of Chilvers' and Peckham's work.
By the end of the s, Wet Seal's stature within the California retail industry had grown dramatically and Chilvers was intent on keeping the momentum. He invested heavily in increasing the size of each store, raising the average square footage of a Wet Seal unit from 2, to 4, Inside the stores, considerable capital had been invested as well.
The enlarged units contained wide center aisles flanked by walls with merchandise stacked to the ceiling. Behind the central cash registers, massive computer-driven video walls played the latest rock music videos, accentuating the trendy appeal of Wet Seal merchandise. By all accounts a successful formula had been created, but it was a formula that had yet be tested outside of California.
That changed in when Wet Seal established its first stores outside of California, opening stores in Las Vegas and Phoenix that registered success commensurate with the company's California stores. Not stopping there, Chilvers looked to expand elsewhere and signed a lease in the summer of for a store in Hawaii, announcing concurrently that he planned to establish at least five stores in Hawaii by the following year.
Ambitious plans were slated for Florida as well, where Chilvers anticipated establishing a minimum of 30 stores. For Chilvers, the success achieved during his first five years as Wet Seal's leader prompted him to map out ambitious plans for the company's future. However, for those industry pundits alarmed by the chain's rapid expansion, Chilvers had an answer.
As the company entered the s, it appeared the only hazard on the horizon was Chilvers' fear of expanding too rapidly. Store sales continued to climb, the company's merchandise was widely popular, and its march across California's borders was meeting with encouraging, uninterrupted success. As Chilvers perceived it, the greatest danger of excessively rapid expansion was sacrificing the quality and "look" of Wet Seal stores in order to save money to finance the establishment of additional stores.
To combat this potential problem Chilvers refused to cut corners while expanding. He invested roughly twice the industry average for each store opening and continued to create hip havens for his customers. By the end of the year, 20 new stores had been added to the chain, giving Wet Seal a total of 93 stores scattered across five states. One year after moving out of California--where the company had been confined for 27 years--Wet Seal operated in Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Florida.
The company's financial performance, in fact, was particularly remarkable considering the state of the national economy during the early s, as the first stirrings of a national recession signaled the beginning of hard times for retailers across the country. By , the severity of the recession was intensifying, but unlike many of its competitors Wet Seal was moving forward, unchecked.
Time magazine featured the company as one of the few retailers able to buck the trend spreading across the country that left many retailers pulling at their wrists as store sales plummeted and profits sagged.
By constantly turning over its merchandise, which Wet Seal executives dubbed "multigenerational," and by awarding weekly bonuses to employees for inventory turnover, Wet Seal was exhibiting a financial vibrancy that distinguished it from rivals and lent credence to the statement that the company might be the "retail phenom" of the s as well.
By the end of there were stores composing the Wet Seal chain. As the company continued with its expansion plans in , adding 13 stores during the year, industry observers were surprised by the announcement of Chilvers' departure in March.
Forty-five years old at the time, Chilvers had opted to take early retirement, explaining that his reasons for leaving were "private and personal, relating to my health and my family, and do not bear upon my relationship with Wet Seal or its directors, which had always been excellent.
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. But a cryptic goodbye message suggested all was not lost, as Bustle advised at the time.
Indeed, the hit 90s retailer made a surprise return just last year, just not as a brick-and-mortar. Instead, the company pivoted to focus solely on the online market and expanded its range to take in plus-size clothing, as Cosmopolitan noted.
Bustle breathlessly reported on Wet Seal's exciting comeback, which was part of their WetSealGetsReal campaign of inclusivity. The year proved to be one of the worst for our favorite suburban destination, the mall. Aeropostale filed for bankruptcy, Macy's revealed it will shutter locations, and even Ralph Lauren announced it will close 50 stores.
Sadly, any hope for a silver lining seems to have been dashed for Teen retailer Wet Seal recently revealed its plans to shut down its remaining stores across the U. In a letter dated January 20, the mall stalwart notified employees in the company's Irvine, California headquarters that the office was permanently shutting down and laying off its workers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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