Canadian Fashion Retailer Revives Charlotte Russe, Plans 100 New Stores

YM Inc., the new owner of Charlotte Russe, has relaunched the brand nationwide. In early June it opened five of a planned 100 new locations; it didn't unveil a schedule for opening the rest. The new owner has also brought back Charlotte Russe's online presence. 

The newly opened Charlotte Russe stores are in Michigan, Georgia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, all of them in mall locations, as is typical for the brand.

YM, which operates more than 560 other stores in North America, acquired Charlotte Russe in March after its former parent company, Charlotte Russe Holdings Corp., filed for bankruptcy. 

Nearly 100 Charlotte Russe locations were slated to be closed because of the bankruptcy, with the other 400 put up for sale, though it isn't clear how many stores actually closed, Crain's Detroit Business reports.

Separately, the former parent of Charlotte Russe sold its Peek Kids brand to New York-based Mamiye Brothers in March. Its handful of stores are closing, but the new owner is maintaining wholesale and web-based sales for that brand. 

In a year marked so far by extensive retail closures, the move to open new stores is unusual, but not unique. Recently Bath & Body Works said it plans to open a net of 22 stores this year, and other openings are occurring in the grocery sector and other needs-based retailing.

There are headwinds against fashion retailing these days, or at least very little in the way of tailwind. According to the Census Bureau's most recent retail sales report, clothing and accessory retailers eked out a 0.2% year-over-year sales gain in April, while suffering a 0.2% decline in sales month over month.

YM is no stranger to the uncertain world of fashion retailing. Other brands owned by the Toronto-based company include Bluenotes, Sirens, Suzy, Urban Kids, Urban Planet and West 49.