Dress Barn to Reorganize

Women's clothing retailer Dress Barn Inc's (New York) announced plans to reorganize as a holding company and rename the company Ascena Retail Group, based in Delaware.

Dress Barn, Maurices and Tween Brands (which operates under the Justice brand) would become units of Ascena Retail Group, which would replace the present company as the publicly held corporation, according to the company. As part of the reorganization, Dress Barn shareholders would become stockholders of the new holding company.

“In recent years, we've become a fundamentally different company that extends beyond the original Dress Barn concept and brand,” says ceo David Jaffe. “We expect the holding company structure to enable us to leverage our infrastructure while allowing each brand to focus intently on delivering a great experience to its customer.”

Dress Barn bought teen-apparel seller Tween Brands Inc. last November in an effort to capture a larger share of the tween girls' apparel market. The Dress Barn concept caters to women in their 30s-50s.