Wet Seal LLC is moving on—literally.
The women’s apparel retailer, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April, relocated its headquarters from Foothill Ranch to the Irvine Spectrum area.
It signed a five-year lease for a 34,612-square-foot, two-story building at 7555 Irvine Center Drive, that is “a lot cooler and indicative of where we are headed as a brand,” said Angelo D’Agostino, vice president of brand marketing, adding that some 150 people work there now. That’s down from about 360 it employed locally last year, according to the 2016 South Orange County Economic Report published by Saddleback College.
Wet Seal no longer needed the warehouse that was part of its former 200,000-square-foot building—inventory management is now outsourced to a company in Riverside.
“We made all kinds of modifications to the business model to make things more efficient and work better for our brand,” D’Agostino said. “We need to provide the customer with the best level of service in order for us to grow. Part of that means aligning yourself with people that are doing it best.”
The retailer also replaced its butterfly-adorned, black-and-white logo. The new one, made in-house, is a photograph of a young woman, casually dressed and basking in California sunshine. Wet Seal’s name in the logo still uses all lowercase letters but in a different, handwritten font.
D’Agostino revisited Wet Seal’s marketing archives for inspiration.
“A lot of times when businesses that are in transition decide to relaunch, there is a lot of talk, ‘Oh, what are they going to do differently?’” he said. “I think for us it’s going back to what made us cool in the beginning, what made us unique, and parlaying that really casual, effortless California style to the nation.
“We had a stronghold on that for quite some time, but somewhere along the line we strayed away from that as a brand … I started the logo treatment process, and when we finally landed on something that we liked, it looked very similar to something that we used in the past, so it’s nostalgic in a way for us.”
The effort to “bring the brand back to its original DNA” also included creating a “real difference” in the retailer’s product offering, D’Agostino said. Casual denim, dresses and comfy tops prevail in its “Road Trip” campaign video released last week that targets older teens and college students.
The retailer also plans to redesign signage at its pared-down lineup of 171 stores in 41 states—it closed 338 underperforming stores in January 2015 and laid off 3,695 full- and part-time employees. It had 665 full-time personnel and 1,689 part-time workers when it was sold in a bankruptcy auction to Philadelphia-based private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC and went private.
Wet Seal had annual revenue of about $500 million and posted losses for three straight years before filing for bankruptcy.
Co-Branding?
Wet Seal plans to pursue “co-branding opportunities … to get in front of the customer and reintroduce ourselves,” D’Agostino said, hinting at partnerships with a “lot of people in music, influencers and style collaborators.”
This is his second stint at Wet Seal—he led creative direction for the now-defunct Arden B sister brand, and some eight years ago left to pursue other opportunities in New York.
“This is a brand that means something to me personally and professionally—it’s where I got my wings,” he said. “I see an opportunity to effect very drastic and real change with the organization that I feel has real merit and credibility in the marketplace.”
Wet Seal in August appointed Melanie Cox its new chief executive, the fourth since 2011.
“This is a brand I have known for decades and where I spent some early years as a merchant and head of product development, helping the business grow from a small 11-store chain in Southern California,” Cox said at the time. “I have studied and worked with this demographic for the majority of my career, and I know this is a valuable retail brand. I am excited to collaborate with our Southern California management team, our store associates, and our customers across the country to achieve Wet Seal’s tremendous potential.”
