Irene Jiang / Business Insider
- Dressbarn’s parent company, Ascena, announced on Monday that it would be closing all 650 Dressbarn stores.
- We visited a Dressbarn store in New York and found hollow display cases and shelves beginning to empty. Otherwise, it was a tidy and organized store.
- Dressbarn’s outdated clothing, convoluted pricing system, and clunky aesthetic gave us a clue as to why the store may have fallen out of style.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Dressbarn’s parent company, Ascena, announced on Monday that it would be closing all 650 Dressbarn retail locations.
Founded in 1962 by Roslyn Jaffe to accommodate the fashion needs of an increasing number of working women, Dressbarn has been hemorrhaging money since 2014.
We visited a Dressbarn store in New York’s Financial District to see why Dressbarn fell behind its competitors:
The name "Dressbarn" is already painfully reminiscent of a time when barns were a bigger part of the American cultural consciousness. It has aged about as well as hoedowns and black-and-white TV. The word "barn" evokes cavernous spaces filled with hay, cows, and cow pies — more giddy-up than glo-up.
Irene Jiang / Business Insider
Speaking of cavernous spaces, Dressbarn’s display windows had already started to empty out by the time I arrived on Tuesday.
Irene Jiang / Business Insider
But for some reason, there was still a hiring ad on the front door. Happiness may have worked here once, but it will soon be in the same boat as the rest of Dressbarn’s employees.
Irene Jiang / Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Urban Outfitters is launching a new clothing rental service, and it’s just the latest sign that fast fashion as we know it is dying
- More than 7,000 stores are closing in 2019 as the retail apocalypse drags on — here’s the full list
- We went to JCPenney to see why sales are sinking — and it revealed why giant mall-based department stores are dying
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Irene Jiang)