Express, Inc.

Express, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: EXPR
Industry Retail
Founded 1980[1]
Headquarters
Number of locations
641 (January 2015)[2]
Key people
David Kornberg, CEO
Revenue US$ 2.165 billion (2014)
US$ 68.3 million (2014)
Number of employees
18,000 (2015)
Website express.com
Express Men

Express, Inc. is an American fashion retailer that caters mainly to young women and men. The company is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.[1] Express operates 641 stores in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Its revenue was US$ 2.165 billion in 2014.[3]

History

Limited Brands, in 1980, opened the first Express store, as women's clothier "Limited Express" in Chicago's Water Tower Place. Former CEO Michael Weiss joined the brand in 1981 when the test expanded to include eight stores. By 1986, Express had 250 stores strong and began testing the sale of men’s merchandise in 16 stores the following year. The men’s fashion line was spun off into its own brand, Structure, in 1989.

In 2000, Express became a dual gender brand with the reintegration of its Structure stores as "Express Men". Dual gender Express stores began opening the following year. Structure apparel brand was sold to Sears in 2003.[4]

Express as a privately held company

On May 16, 2007, Limited Brands announced its intent to sell a 67% stake in Express to an affiliate of a private equity firm called Golden Gate Capital Partners, based in San Francisco. When the sale was finalized in July 2007, Golden Gate's stake in the company was 75% instead of the announced 67%.

On May 13, 2010 the company sold 16 million shares for $17 each, raising about $272 million. Shares had been planned to sell between $18 and $20 each. On May 14, 2010, the shares opened at $17 to $16.50 before recovering slightly to close down 1.5% at $16.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.[5]

Since the IPO, Golden Gate and Limited Brands gradually reduced their ownership interest in the Company. On July 29, 2011, Limited Brands sold its remaining ownership interest in the Company, and as a result of this disposition, ceased to be a related party as of the end of the second quarter of 2011. On March 19, 2012, Golden Gate sold its remaining ownership interest in the Company, and as of May 31, 2012, Golden Gate no longer had representation on the Board. As a result of the disposition and Board seat removal, Golden Gate ceased to be a related party as of June 1, 2012.[6]

Styles

In 2006, Express introduced the King of Prides collection for men, which includes denim, T-shirts, and hooded sweaters.

In 2005, Express introduced a denim line, with a stitching on the back pockets called DPD.

In April 2008, Express released a limited women's collection designed by Celia Birtwell. More recently, in early 2009, replacing the discontinued DPD jeans; Express introduced its newest denim line, Rerocks, in both women's and in men. Just like the DPD jeans, Rerocks also have stitching on the back pockets and the materials are different.

In 2009, Express denim line was expanded with its extra low-rise Zelda jeans as well as introducing two new styles. One is a women's denim, barely boot-cut in either the low-rise Zelda or the regular-rise Stella. The other is the men's denim Zach, which is an extra-slim fit.

Express jeans come in different washes from darkest to lightest and fits from loose to tight.

For women's denim: Mia styles: slim fit with a mid rise, Zelda styles: slim fit with an ultra low rise, Stella styles: regular fit with low rise jeans, Rerock styles: thick-stitched jeans

For men's denim: Blake styles: loose fit Kingston styles: classic fit, tighter fitting than the Blake and looser than the Rocco or Zach, Rocco styles: slim fit Alec styles: extra slim fit

Express clothes are designed at the Express Design Studio on 111 Fifth Avenue New York City, New York in Manhattan's Flatiron District.[7]

References

External links

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