Ascena (ASNA) Expands Further with New dressbarn Stores

Ascena Retail Group Inc. ASNA appears to be keen on an absolute progression of its business as it remains focused on expanding its brand outlets. This was marked by the recent opening of four dressbarn stores.

The company's newest dressbarn stores were opened on Aug 29, 2014, at The Loop, 90 Pleasant Valley Street in Methuen, MA; Gateway Center, 410 Gateway Drive in Brooklyn, NY; The Shops at LaPalmera in Corpus Christi, TX; and Holly Springs Towne Center, 160 Grand Hill Place in Holly Springs, NC.

Apart from this, the company also celebrated the grand reopening of two dressbarn stores on the same day. The stores which reopened after renovation and remodeling are located at Belleville Crossing, 5741 Belleville Crossing Street in Belleville, IL and McKinley Milestrip Center, 3540 McKinley Parkway in Hamburg, PA.

The new as well as reopened dressbarn stores will offer versatile, on-trend pieces in sizes 4-24 for women looking for stylish apparels at an affordable price. These dressbarn stores celebrated their opening by allowing shoppers to register in order to win a $250 shopping spree.

dressbarn features its own line of women's casual, career and special occasion apparel at reasonable prices. Moreover, dressbarn through its focus on providing enhanced shopping experiences remains committed to the task of inspiring women to look and feel beautiful via fashion adventures, style solutions, relevant choices and personalized service at its stores.

The store expansion plans of Ascena are gaining pace this year with its new Lane Bryant, maurices and dressbarn stores. In June, the company opened 15 maurices stores, including seven new store openings and eight re-openings of remodeled stores. Moreover, the company has opened about 26 new Lane Bryant stores since March-end 2014 and re-opened one remodeled store.

Currently, Ascena has nearly 775 Lane Bryant full-line and outlet stores, over 850 dressbarn and more than 900 maurices stores in operation.

Ascena Retail Group is a specialty retailer that offers clothing for women as well as teen girls and boys. The company provides apparel, accessories, footwear, undergarments and lifestyle products such as bedroom furnishings and electronics.

The company's operating segments include Justice, Lane Bryant, maurices, dressbarn and Catherines. Some of the popular brands sold by the company include Justice, Brothers, Lane Bryant, Cacique, Right Fit, maurices, Studio Y, dressbarn, Catherines, Maggie Barnes, Liz&Me and Serenada.

As of Apr 26, 2014, Ascena operated nearly 3,900 stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. In its last earnings release, the company outlined its plan to open about 40–60 stores during fiscal 2014.

Ascena currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks among apparel and shoe retailers include Citi Trends, Inc. CTRN, Foot Locker, Inc. FL and Zumiez Inc. ZUMZ. While Citi Trends sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Foot Locker and Zumiez hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).