Ascena Retail Group has officially completed the wind down of its Dressbarn brand, closing more than 650 stores and eliminating more than $300 million of lease liability.
The Mahwah-based speciality retailer said since the announcement, sales were favorable allowing for a full offset of the cost incurred in the wind down of approximately $60 million.
“The completion of the Dressbarn wind down concludes a significant step in ascena’s ongoing transformation and is in line with the company’s three key priorities: driving sustainable growth, improving operating margins, and optimizing our capital structure,” Ascena CEO Gary Muto said. “Thanks to strong leadership and focused execution, we mitigated the financial impact of the wind down while maintaining our commitment to treat the Dressbarn associates and other key stakeholders fairly and with respect throughout the process. We appreciate the tremendous support Dressbarn received from landlords, vendors, associates and suppliers.”
Officially, all Dressbarn stores are closed and its intellectual property assets and ecommerce business have been sold and transitioned over to its new owner.
