(Source: The Orange County Register)
By Hang Nguyen, The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif.
Nov. 11--Have you heard of Francesca's Collections?
It's a new chain in Orange County that's opening stores at a rapid-fire pace. In a mere five months, the women's clothing and accessories retailer opened four Orange County stores -- all at the biggest local malls. It opened at Irvine Spectrum Center this past April and at The Shops at Mission Viejo in May. Locations at Westfield MainPlace in Santa Ana and Fashion Island in Newport Beach were added in August.
View slideshow of Francesca's merchandise and pricing.
The Houston-based, recently turned publicly traded company runs about 300 boutiques. It wants to have about 900 U.S. boutiques over the next seven to ten years.
Retail analyst Brian Tunick with J.P. Morgan wrote in a September report that he expects the store base to grow 20 percent to 25 percent annually, making it the fastest growing retailer in terms of square footage. It outpaces the popular yoga-inspired clothing chain Lululemon, which is expanding at 20 percent to 23 percent. By comparison, Vancouver-based Lululemon opened its four Orange County locations from 2004 through 2011.
Francesca's "rigorous approach to its real-estate strategy coupled with management's real estate expertise is paving the way for rapid expansion at a time when many specialty retailers are restricted to low-single-digit growth if any at all," Tunick said. "We believe Francesca's has a solid management team at the helm, who we are confident will successfully execute on the company's growth strategy going forward."
Francesca's founder and CEO was the former vice president and director of leasing for Weingarten Realty Investors. Its chief financial officer was the CFO for David's Bridal and CVS Caremark Corp. Its chief operating officer was senior director of store operations at Banana Republic, senior vice president of stores at Gymboree Corp. and held various management positions at Mervyns and Target Corp.
In March 2010, CCMP Capital Advisors -- a private equity firm that invests in AMC Entertainment and Quiznos Sub -- said it bought a controlling interest in the company to help it aggressively expand. CCMP chairman Greg Brenneman last year said: "We are impressed by Francesca's ability to grow its store base rapidly while maintaining its unique business model, culture and customer shopping experience."
The stores of fast-fashion retailer Francesca's are designed and merchandised to feel like an independently-owned boutique. It carries limited quantities in a small setting.
Shops average 1,400 square feet.