Ascena Retail Group - Fashion Company Profile
Ascena Retail Group was one of America's largest women's apparel retailers, the parent of Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lane Bryant, Catherines, dressbarn, maurices and Justice. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2020 and was broken up: Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lou & Grey and Lane Bryant were sold to Sycamore Partners in December 2020, the Justice brand went to Bluestar Alliance, Catherines to FullBeauty Brands, and dressbarn had already been closed in 2019. The Ascena group itself no longer operates.
Company Snapshot
- Status
- Closed as an independent company - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2020 and sold its brands
- Type
- Was public (NASDAQ: ASNA) until 2020
- Headquarters
- Mahwah, New Jersey, United States (historical)
- Founded
- 1962, as Dress Barn
Company Profile
There is therefore no Ascena company website to visit, and no Ascena shop box on this page: each former brand now trades, or does not, under its own owner, and the surviving brands have their own profiles in this directory. The full record of the group at its height - its segments, brands and the 2015-2019 acquisition, sale and closure announcements - is kept on the history page linked below.
Underneath it sit the dated layers of the group(?:'|')s own announcements. A May 2015 summary describes a retailer of clothing, shoes and accessories for missy and plus-size women under Lane Bryant, Cacique, maurices, dressbarn and Catherines, and for tween girls under Justice, operating approximately 3,900 stores in the United States and Canada. The May 2012 summary goes further back: over 2,500 stores through dressbarn (836 stores in 48 states, for women ages 35-55), maurices (810 stores in 44 states and Canada, for the fashion-conscious woman ages 17-34) and Justice. The growth from 2,500 to 3,900 to the later segment structure is the company's expansion told in its own summaries.
Ascena Retail Group History
The earlier record for this company - its history, past brand line-ups, figures and photographs from the periods described - is kept on a separate page for historical reference.
Ascena Retail Group History & Historical Profile →Common Questions
How is Ascena organised, per the later summary?
By segment: Premium Fashion (Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lou & Grey), Value Fashion (dressbarn), Plus Fashion (Lane Bryant, Catherines, Cacique) and Kids Fashion (Justice), across about 3,500 stores.
What did Ascena announce in 2019?
That Maurices was sold to OpCapita in March 2019, ending 14 years of ownership, and in May 2019 that all Dressbarn store locations would close, in the historical record.
When was the ANN INC. acquisition announced?
May 18, 2015, under a definitive merger agreement for a combination of cash and stock.
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