New York & Company to acquire Fashion to Figure

30 Nov '17

3 min read

Courtesy: Fashion to Figure

New York & Company, a specialty women’s apparel chain with 459 retail stores, has decided to acquire assets of Fashion to Figure, retailer of trendy plus-size fashions, including intellectual property rights related to the Fashion to Figure brand, for $1.4 million plus no more than $1.0 million of fees and expenses through an asset purchase agreement.

The assets will be acquired by TFT Acquisition LLC, as the successful bidder at an auction run by Fashion to Figure, as part of its ongoing reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code and will be subsequently acquired by New York & Company late in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.

The asset purchase agreement covers all intellectual property, including trademarks, tradenames, an extensive customer database, and all in-store assets, with the exception of inventory. All lease obligations are expected to remain with the seller; however, the company anticipates contacting various landlords in an effort to negotiate satisfactory agreements regarding future lease terms to remain in certain existing Fashion to Figure locations.

New York & Company is also anticipating hiring certain former employees of Fashion to Figure, including members of the design, merchandising and eCommerce teams, who are expected to join the company during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017. The company will also be negotiating with certain market vendors in an effort to secure inventory for the anticipated relaunch in early 2018.

Fashion to Figure was founded in 2004 by Michael and Nicholas Kaplan who are the great-grandsons of Lena Bryant, the founder of the plus-size clothing chain Lane Bryant. Fashion to Figure has become well known for providing on trend fashion options for women's plus-size clothing and related accessories. The store's name was derived from a quote Lena Bryant made in a 1950 interview in which she stated, "You should never ask women to conform their figures to fashion, but rather bring fashion to the figure." The closing of the transaction is expected to occur late in the fourth quarter of 2017, positioning the company to re-introduce a revitalised Fashion to Figure brand to the marketplace in early February 2018 through an online site and select Fashion to Figure stores, thereby providing the company an opportunity to capture a significant portion of the former Fashion to Figure’s existing profitable sales.

Gregory Scott, New York & Company’s CEO stated: “We are excited to expand into the Plus Business with the acquisition of Fashion to Figure’s intellectual property, as we believe that the business the Kaplans built has true brand potential and has a brand platform that is compatible with New York & Company. We believe Fashion to Figure has strong name recognition with the Plus-size consumer and a very loyal consumer base, with a database of approximately 500,000 customers, that we believe we can effectively leverage to grow the brand, particularly online, to drive profitable future growth.” (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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