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Aritzia

Canadian clothing store chain From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aritzia
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Aritzia LP is a Canadian clothing retail company founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, by businessman Brian Hill in 1984. Aritzia sells a variety of lifestyle apparel through various upscale retail stores across Canada, the United States, and online. Aritzia describes itself as "everyday luxury" brand at attainable prices.[4]

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Aritzia store in Sherway Gardens, Toronto, Canada
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Aritzia's previous logo
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History

Aritzia opened its first store in 1984 in Oakridge Centre, a shopping mall located on Vancouver's West Side.[5] Since making national forays across the Canadian retail clothing landscape throughout the next two decades, the company opened its first U.S. stores in Seattle and Santa Clara in November 2007.[6]

The company went public on October 3, 2016.[7]

In 2019, major shareholder Berkshire Partners, an American private equity company, exited its stake.[8]

In June 2021, Aritzia announced it would be acquiring Reigning Champ, a menswear-focused Canadian athleisure and streetwear brand, for $63 million.[9]

In May 2022, Jennifer Wong took over as CEO, replacing longtime founder and executive chair Brian Hill.[10] Prior to taking on the position of CEO, Wong held the role of COO at Aritzia since 2007. Wong joined the firm in 1987 as a sales associate at the Robson Street store in Vancouver, one of the first Aritzia's first flagship stores.[11]

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Brands

Unlike other Canadian clothing retailers, Aritzia distinguishes itself by primarily selling its own in-house fashion brands, such as Wilfred, Wilfred Free, Le Fou by Wilfred, TNA, Golden, Talula, Babaton, The Group by Babaton, 1 -01 Babaton, Sunday Best, Main Character, Community, and Super Puff. In 2014, Aritzia introduced two handbag lines: SIXELEVEN and Auxiliary.[12] Stores also carry clothing from labels such as Citizens of Humanity, Mackage, New Balance, Levi's, A Gold E, Havaianas, J Brand, Adidas, Herschel Supply Co., and rag & bone.[13]

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Stores

The interior and exterior architectural configurations of Aritzia's stores are designed individually. After a location is hand-selected, a team of architects and interior designers create a bespoke look with a mixture of local influences, natural materials, custom furniture, and art.[14] It is intentional that there are no mirrors in most of the dressing rooms, forcing shoppers to head into a communal space. (Each store has at least one dressing room with a permanent or roll-in mirror for those shoppers wanting additional privacy). Some locations have complimentary coffee bars or serve alcohol.[15]

As of January 2021, Aritzia operates 101 stores in North America; 68 boutiques are located in Canada including 5 TNA stores, 8 Wilfred stores, and 4 Babaton stores.[16][1] There are 44 Aritzia stores in the USA, including a 13,000 square-foot flagship location in Manhattan, New York City.[17]

In January 2017, Aritzia announced the opening of a flagship store in Chicago on Rush Street.[18]

E-commerce

In November 2012, Aritzia launched the aritzia.com e-commerce site.[19] It also provided a digital magazine with artist profiles and galleries of clothing trends.

References

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