Delia's

Delia's, Inc.
Private
Industry E-commerce
Founded 1993 (1993) in New York City, New York, United States
Headquarters New York City
Key people
 Tracy Gardner (CEO)
Steve Russo (Owner), Brian Lattman (President), Patricia Johnson (Chief Merchandising Officer)
Products Young women and girl's apparel & accessories
Subsidiaries Alloy
Website www.deliasclothing.com

Delia's, Inc. (stylized as dELiA*s) is a direct marketing and retail company composed of two lifestyle brands primarily targeting preteen girls (#deliasgirls) 7-13 and teenage girls between the ages of 13 to 19.[1]

It was, in its prime, the leading marketer to 10 to 24-year-old females in the United States. Delia's was popular among college women, as many of its products were affordable and suitable for college-age students.[2] After declaring bankruptcy in December 2014, the store re-opened as an online merchant in August 2015.

Products

Delia's sells apparel (including pants, shorts, skirts, tees, jackets, blazers, and bikini tops and bottoms), accessories, footwear (including shoes and boots), cosmetics, and room furnishings. The brand previously sold to teenage consumers through direct mail catalogs, websites, and, for Delia's, mall-based specialty retail stores. As of 2015, Delia's products are only for sale through their official website.

History

The company was launched in 1993 by two Yale University graduates.[3] The company was acquired by Alloy Inc. in 2003, for $50 million.[4][5] The combined company had annual catalog, internet, and retail sales of $300 million. It also had a database of over 20 million names, constituting 30%–40% of U.S. consumers who were 12–18 years old.[5] Alloy then spun off the company in 2005.[6] In January 2013 HRSH Acquisitions LLC bought Alloy Inc, now being marketed as Alloy Apparel, for $3.7 million in cash. HRSH also assumed $3.1 million in liabilities. On December 5, 2014, it announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and would be liquidating all 95 stores.[7] Shortly after, its shares fell more than 80% to $0.02.[8] In August 2015, the store re-opened as an online-only store[9][10] under the ownership of Steve Russo of Fab/Starpoint.

On March 15, 2016, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York entered a Court order approving the sale of Remnant Assets to Oak Point Partners.[11]

Branding

One company focus was its Gen Y understanding, as reflected in its use of the internet for furthering brand identity.[12] It direct-marketed teenage girls, and in 1998 launched the non-commercialized girls website gURL.com, which focuses on issues such and sports and dating, and which it linked to its own homepage.[4][12] In 2001 it sold gURL.com to the parent company of Seventeen Magazine.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Cannon, Susan; Scarano, Christina Sofia (2005). Where to Wear 2006 : Fashion Shopping from A-Z (2006 ed.). New York: Fairchild & Gallagher. ISBN 9780976687795.
  2. ↑ Evans, Joel R.; Berman, Barry (2001). Retail Management : A Strategic Approach (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. pp. 151, 209–210. ISBN 9780130263346. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Delia's Puts Itself Up for Sale – NYTimes.com
  4. 1 2 3 New Girl Order: Youth, Gender, and Generation in Contemporary Teen Girls' Media – Caryn E. Murphy
  5. 1 2 Alloy Buys Rival Delia's
  6. ↑ "dELiA*s, Inc. Announces Effectiveness of Registration Statement Relating to Its Previously Announced Rights Offering".
  7. ↑ "Delia's Chapter 11 Voluntary Petition" (PDF). PacerMonitor. PacerMonitor. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Delia's Joins Circuit City, Borders Among Retailers in History's Dustbin".
  9. ↑ "Here's your first look at the all new Delia's".
  10. ↑ "Delia's". Archived from the original on 2015-08-07.
  11. ↑ "Delia's Order Approving the Sale of Remnant Assets". Prime Clerk.
  12. 1 2 Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People – Marc Gobe
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