Dive Brief:
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FullBeauty Brands is expanding its portfolio of inclusive and plus-size apparel brands, announcing a definitive agreement to acquire U.S. plus specialist Avenue Stores. Terms were not disclosed.
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In 2019 Avenue shuttered all of its 220-plus stores as part of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy process. Months later Australian retail company City Chic Collective acquired its e-commerce business.
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Avenue and its brands, the company’s fourth acquisition in just over a year, will be added to FullBeauty’s digital mall, per a company press release this week.
Dive Insight:
FullBeauty’s portfolio has grown rapidly since the company’s own 24-hour spin through bankruptcy in 2019. The company aims to dominate what it says is an $81 billion women’s plus-sized segment whose growth is triple that of the overall women’s apparel market.
The company bought legacy plus retailer Catherine’s in 2020, outbidding City Chic at an auction that was part of Ascena’s bankruptcy. Its more recent acquisitions include Dia, Eloquii and intimates brand Cuup, part of an effort to reach a younger and more diverse demographic.
The addition of Avenue “will further our leading position in size-inclusive fashion as the one-stop destination for great fitting, quality, on-trend, size-inclusive apparel,” FullBeauty CEO Jim Fogarty said in a statement this week.
Avenue’s brands include namesake Avenue, Aveleisure, Cloudwalkers, Zim Zoe, Loralette, Avenue Studio, Aveology and Avenue Body. The City Chic brand itself will continue to be sold through Avenue.com as well as through Dia, Fogarty said. FullBeauty is also building out a U.S. brand team to focus on Avenue customers.
“We are also rooting for our seller and a strong City Chic brand,” he said.
The company plans to follow its strategy for Catherine’s: turning “a legacy stores footprint that serviced a boomer demographic into a solid e-commerce brand with strong brand equity,” he also said.
