Next, it plans to open a total of 15 new stores through the end of the year at strategically selected locations based on its data-driven model. Locations span from The Avenues Mall in Jacksonville, Florida to Wolfchase Galleria, in Memphis, Tennessee, and Walden Galleria, in Buffalo, New York, and many other states.
“Recent new store openings have demonstrated the importance of our store channel to brand discovery and customer acquisition,” said Rue21’s CEO Bill Brand. “Our dynamic in-store experiences have driven customer loyalty and is our model for continued omnichannel growth.” The expansion comes as even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gen Z customer-favourite brand, experienced double-digit growth, enabling aggressive investment in both its physical and digital properties.
In fact, Rue21 opened three new stores last year that outperformed expectations by more than 50 percent. The retailer attributes the stores’ success to its data-driven site selection process, which hones in on customer profiles and assures that the real estate selection is in line with customer demographics.
