Four Aces

1
Four Aces

• A Comparison of Two Retail Clothing Stores

2
Presentation Outline

• Company History Overview Adriane Samaan
• Four Aces Dyani Berman
• Wet Seal
• SWOT Lisa McGarry
• Store Atmospherics Viola Smith
• Clothing Viola Smith
• Target Market Mirela Bazaj
• Advertising/Promotions Mirela Bazaj
• Arden B
• Intro Dyani Berman
• Strengths Adriane Samaan
• Weaknesses Dyani Berman
• Opportunities Adriane Samaan
• Threats Dyani Berman
• Atmospherics/Advertising Sarah Groth
• Financial Overview-Viola Smith
• Conclusion Adriane Samaan

3
Company History Overview

• Mid 60s, Tiny bikini Shack in Newport Beach, CA
• Privately Owned by Lorne Huycke and His Wife
• Swimwear Show Motivated Owners to a New Name and
  New Identity?Wet Seal
• 70s, Product Offering Expands to Meet Demands
  and Tastes of Young Fashion Savvy Women
• 70s, Location Expansion to a Dozen Retail
  Locations
• 80s, Group of Management Employees Collaborate
  and Purchased Wet Seal and Added Six New
  Locations
• 1984, Sold 18 Prime Locations to Suzy Shier, Inc.
  to Raise Capital for Future Growth

4
Company History Overview (Cont.)

• 1990, Wet Seal Completed an Initial Stock
  Offering That raised the Funding Necessary for
  Expansion
• 1995, Wet Seal Acquired 237 Contempo Casual
  Stores from Neiman Marcus Group
• 1996, Secondary Public Offering of 5,347,500
  Shares at 13.33 per Share
• 1998, Wet Seal Acquired Leases, Furniture and
  Fixtures for 19 Stores from Mothers Work
• 1998, Arden B. Introduced
• 1999, Websites Launched
• Acquired Leases, Furniture and Fixtures for 18
  Zutopia Stores from Gymboree, Inc.
• 2001, Contempo Casual Stores Converted to Wet
  Seal
• 2002, Venture Into Cosmetics

5
Four Aces
Zutopia ? Contempo Casuals ? Wet Seal ? Arden
B. ?
6
Zutopia

• Who Are Tweens?
• 5-12 Girls Stuck Between Finally Fitting Into
  Older, Hip Clothes and Moms Who Still Want Them
  to Wear Pink Bows.
• Zutopia is the Trump Card for Fashion-Savvy
  Pre-Teen Girls Who Want to Play it Cool.

7
Contempo Casuals

• As Wet Seals Fun and Forward Sister Store.
• Our 19-35 Yr. Old Customers Will Continue to be
  in Their Element With Dressy to Casual, Business
  to Funky and Basic to Trendy.

8
Wet Seal

• Become the Dominant Fashion Brand for Girls
  13-25, Wet Seal is Counted on to Offer Everything
  From Elegant to Comfy and Everything Edgy in
  Between.

9
Arden B.

• Fashion-Driven, Lifestyle-Orientated Shopping
  Destination for Contemporary Young Women 20-35.

10
Wet Seal S.W.O.T.

• Strengths
• Fashion Savvy Affordable Pricing
• One Stop Shop
• Private Label and Branded
• 456 Stores
• Weaknesses
• Clothing May Be Risky and Parents May Not
  Encourage Purchases.
• Successful Company, Not Too Many Weaknesses

11
Wet Seal S.W.O.T. (Cont.)

• Opportunities
• Focus On Increasing Traffic In Stores and Brand
  Awareness
• Expand to Free Standing Stores (Outside of Malls)
• Become Destination Stores With Exclusive Brands
• Strive to Reduce Customer Dissonance
• Threat
• Other Mall Specialty Stores That Offer Similar
  Clothing Types

12
Wet Seal - Store Atmospherics

• Fun, Youthful Feeling In Stores
• Three TVs With Pop Concert
• Bright Track Lighting
• Loud Music
• Industrial Look

13
Wet Seal - Clothing

• Trendy, Affordable, Youthful
• Branded and Private Label
• Complete Ensemble Coordination

14
Wet Seal - Target Market

• Generation Y
• 13-25
• Mainstream Malls
• Trendy, Fashion Forward Consumers
• Affordable For the Budget Conscious Young Woman

15
Wet Seal Advertising and Promotions

• Magazine, Website Advertising
• Seventeen
• Inside Store Sale promotions
• BOGOs
• Customer Loyalty Program
• 10 Fee
• 15 Off Purchases for a Year
• 20 on Your Birthday

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17
Arden B.

• Introduced as a Retail Concept by the Company in
  November 1998
• Arden B. Stores Open in the A Malls
• Arden B. Offer a Collection of Fashion Separates
  and Accessories for all parts of Their Customers
  Lifestyle Everyday, wear-to-Work, Special
  Occasion and Casual, all Under the Arden B. Brand
  Name

18
Arden B. - Strengths

• Multiple Unit Sales/One Stop Shop
• Fashion Savvy and Affordable Pricing to Target
  Market
• Capitalized on Market Niche Otherwise Limited to
  Department Stores
• Corporate Owned, No Franchising
• Small Screen Endorsements
• Will and Grace
• Entertainment Tonight
• European Designs/Custom Arden B. Private Label
• Develop a Fashion Information Exchange With
  Buyers, Designers and Sales Staff to Provide a
  Communication Infrastructure
• Separate Buying Teams

19
Arden B. - Weaknesses

• Limited Locations
• 82 Stores
• No Customer Loyalty Programs

20
Arden B. - Opportunities

• Debt Free
• Could Invest in Test Stores
• Contests and Sponsored Events Bring About
  Notoriety and Increase Brand Equity and Loyalty
• Become Destination Stores With Exclusive Brands

21
Arden B. - Threats

• Other Mall Specialty Stores With Loyalty Programs
• Express
• A Malls Have Intense Comparable Competition

22
Arden B. Store Atmospherics

• Overall Atmospherics
• Soft, Feminine, Flirty, Fun, Sophisticated,
  Exclusivity
• They Achieved This By
• Color
• Lighting
• Music
• Layout

23
Arden B. - Advertising

• Market Strategy
• Market Follower-plus-Product Category is Late in
  the Life Cycle Market Share Strategy
• Promotional Strategy
• Pull Strategy
• Advertising Strategy
• Frame-of Mind
• Target Behavior
• Brand Preferences
• Brand Perceptions
• Creative Strategy
• Holistic Information Processing Theory
• Transformational Ads

24
Financial Overview (In Millions)

• Net Sales
• 1998/485
• 1999/524
• 2000/580
• Net Income
• 1998/26
• 1999/14.2
• 2000/19.5
• Net Income per Share
• 1998/1.91
• 1999/1.11
• 2000/1.54

25
Conclusion

• In EST Retailing
• Hot-EST Fashion
• Easy-EST Service
• Customer For Life
• Establish Brand Loyalty/Store Loyalty
• Zutopia?Wet Seat/Contempo Casuals?Arden B.

http//www.wetseal.com