Tween Brands

Tween Brands, Inc. (formerly known as Limited Too, Inc. and Too, Inc.) operates Justice branded stores targeted towards the tween girl market. Since 2009, the company has been a subsidiary of Ascena Retail Group.[2]

Tween Brands, Inc.
Formerly
Limited Too Inc.
(1987–1999)
Too Inc. (1999–2006)
Subsidiary
IndustryRetail
Founded1987
HeadquartersNew Albany, Ohio, U.S.
Number of locations
1000+ Justice stores (March 2016)[1]
Key people
Brian Lynch, President & CEO
ParentThe Limited (1987–2009)
Ascena Retail Group
(2009–present)
Websitehttps://www.shopjustice.com/

Justice sells apparel, underwear, sleepwear, swimwear, lifestyle, accessories, and personal care products for girls age 6–16 Justice operates in malls and shopping centers. Until its acquisition by Dress Barn, Tween Brands operated 900 Justice stores.[3] Limited Too stores sold clothes similar to Justice, but at a higher price point. Three times a year, spring, fall and holiday, Limited Too offered "Too Bucks", which are received with a $50 purchase, and are worth $25 off every $50 purchase (as of 2008) and "Bonus Too Bucks", which are worth $15 off every $40 purchase. Justice offers the same concept, called "Justice cash". On August 12, 2008, Tween Brands announced that the nearly 600 Limited Too stores would convert to the lower-price Justice brand in early 2009, discontinuing the use of the Limited Too name.[4]

The current name for J Bucks is Style Perks. During certain times of the year, Style Perks are offered.[5] You can receive one card for every purchase you make during this time.[5] The cards are for $15 off a purchase of $40.[5]

Justice carries girls size 6 through size 20.[5] They also carries plus sizes for size 10-24.[5] Plus sized dresses, tops and jackets are available online and select styles in store[5]

Justice headquarters is located in New Albany, Ohio. Almost 400 associates work there and are divided into about 20 different departments.[6] The CEO of Justice as of March 2016 is Brian Lynch.[6] The leaders of Tween Brands include nine employees who manage the company.[6] Four of these leaders are male and five of these leaders are female.[6]

Justice has over 1,000 stores as of March 2016.[6] These stores are mainly located in Canada and the United States of America, however, some stores are located in Mexico, Central America, South America, Asia, and the Middle East.[6]

History

Limited Too was created by The Limited, Inc. in 1987 as a younger girls/infants version of The Limited. From 1987 to 1995, the number of stores increased from two to 288 different retail locations. In 1996, a new senior management team refocused Limited Too into a preteen girls fashion store. In 1999, Limited Too, Inc. spun off to establish a strong and independent brand identity.

From 2001 to 2003 the company operated the Mishmash chain that targeted 15- to 20-year-old women and sold apparel, accessories, and gifts and competed head-to-head with chains like Gadzooks, Wet Seal, and the women's businesses of Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister Co., and American Eagle Outfitters. The chain folded in 2003 because Too Inc. felt that they knew and understood the preteen customer better. Committed to this focus, Too Inc. launched the first Justice: Just for Girls stores in January 2004.

On July 10, 2006, Too Inc. completed its name change to Tween Brands, Inc., and began trading on the NYSE under the symbol, 'TWB'. In February 2008, there were 582 Limited Too stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico as well as 25 franchised stores in the Middle East.At its peak, Limited Too had 600 stores. The company changed its name to Tween Brands in 2006, and it shuttered most of its Limited Too stores amid the recession in 2008. Some of the stores were rebranded under the "Justice" brand.

In August 2008, Tween Brands announced that it would discontinue its Limited Too line of 586 stores, although select stores would still offer a line of higher-quality Limited Too clothes in Justice locations. In 2009, 26 of these stores closed and 560 others were re-branded as Justice.[7]

On June 25, 2009, Ascena Retail Group announced that it would buy Tween Brands, Inc, in a friendly acquisition.[8]

In 2010, Tween Brands began a boys clothing line entitled “Brothers”. Clothing from Brothers was sold online only.[9]

On January 1, 2011, Dress Barn completed its reorganization into Ascena Retail Group, Inc. trading on the NASDAQ under the stock ticker symbol ASNA.[10]

In 2012, Brothers clothing began being sold in several Justice stores.[9] Over 20 Justice stores sold Brothers clothing by 2013.[9] The Brothers headquarters is located in Ohio.[9]

By June 2012, the number of Justice stores had increased to 920. The chain outsold the much larger Walmart and Target stores in the girls' apparel category during the 4th quarter of 2011 and the 1st quarter of 2012.[11]

On Feb 17, 2015, Ascena Retail Group, Inc. announced that the Brothers brand would be discontinued.[12]

Criticism

In 2007, Slate published an article by Emily Yoffe that was critical of the clothing offered for pre-teen girls at several shops, including Limited Too. When she took her eleven-year-old daughter shopping for school clothes, the range available at Limited Too ran to clothing "encrusted with rhinestones or sparkling with glitter", a category Yoffe called "Nitwit Wear" (she mentions a T-shirt with the slogan "I Left My Brain In My Locker"), push-up bras for pre-teens, and boyshort underwear emblazoned "Buy it now! Tell Dad later!"[13]

When examined in the study “’Putting on’ Sexiness: A Content Analysis of the Presence of Sexualizing Characteristics in Girls' Clothing”, Justice had interesting results.[14] A total of 650 clothing pieces were analyzed into four groups defined as childish, sexual, both childish and sexual and neither childish nor sexual.[14] Of the clothing documented, 413 pieces or 63.5% of the clothing was defined as childish, 12 pieces or 1.8% of the clothing was defined as sexual, and 225 pieces or 34.6% of the clothing was considered both childish and sexual.[14] No clothing from Justice was considered neither childish nor sexual.[14]

References
  1. The Dress Barn 2010 Annual Report
  2. Our Brands - Justice (accessed 15 December 2012)
  3. "News Releases". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  4. "Tween Brands to scrap Limited Too brand". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  5. "Justice". ShopJustice.com. 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  6. "Careers at Justice". Tween Brands. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  7. Tween Brands Company Profile on Wikinvest
  8. "News Releases". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  9. Eaton, Dan (September 20, 2012). "Justice Adding Boys Clothing at More Stores After successful test Run". Columbus Business First. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  10. Business Wire (2011-01-03). "The Dress Barn, Inc. Completes Delaware Holding Company Reorganization into Ascena Retail Group, Inc". Business Wire. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  11. Klara, Robert. "It's Not Easy Being Tween", Adweek, 27 June 2012 (accessed 15 December 2012)
  12. Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (2015-02-17). "Ascena Retail Group, Inc. Back Its Brothers Brand". Ascena Retail Group, Inc. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  13. Lolita's Closet: unbearably trampy back-to-school clothes
  14. Goodin, S. (2011). "Putting on Sexiness: A Content Analysis of the Presence of Sexualizing Characteristics in Girl's Clothing". Sex Roles. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-9966-8.
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