CSG Snapshot: rue21

800 Commonwealth Dr
Warrendale, PA 15086
(724) 776-9780
www.rue21.com

Total Stores
1,213

Total Sales
$1.1 billion (e)

Year Founded
1974

Trading Areas
AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY

Senior Executives
Interim CEO + CFO: Keith McDonough
Chief Merchandising Officer: Nina Barjesteh
Chief Customer Officer: Elizabeth Hodges

SNAPFORWARD

As it continues to search for answers, struggling teen retailer rue21 has a new interim CEO, longtime CFO Keith McDonough, along with C-level reinforcements from Target and Chico’s FAS (in the form of new Chief Merchandising and Chief Customer Officers). The company has been criticized for its late arrival and lackluster execution in online retailing and an inability to keep pace with changing teen tastes (a problem for an organization that styles itself as a fast-fashion player). Building its way back to prosperity finally seems to be off the table. After adding stores at a clip of 100-units-a-year for a number of years, rue21 will put on the breaks, limiting itself to 40 new stores this year and even fewer, according to CSG projections, in 2017.

Source: Chain Store Guide’s Database of Apparel Specialty Stores. *CSG projection based on proprietary analysis and company statements. Actual figures are subject to change. This data is not intended for investment decisions.