Rue21, Out of Bankruptcy, Back to Opening Stores

After two years of refocusing itself, fast-fashion apparel purveyor rue21 recently opened its first store since emerging from bankruptcy, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Dubbed the Style Seeker Concept, the Robinson, Pa., store represents a new spin on the chain’s older store designs — a “bright white canvas allowing the great color and excitement of rue21’s fashion to pop,” said chief executive Michael C. Appel. The 4,800-square-foot space also showcases about 40 mannequins to help inspire shoppers’ sartorial senses. The concept was tested out in 10 stores before the company built the Robinson location from scratch. In the test locations, “We saw an immediate uplift in sales,” Mr. Appel said. More than 100 stores have gotten the facelift so far. The company plans to total out at 132 by the end of the year. Taking a sharp eye to its fleet of stores has been part of rue21’s mission over the last two years. In January 2017, the teen retailer operated 1,218 stores in 48 states. Now it has 697 in its fleet. Rue21 filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2017. It emerged in September the same year.