Ann Inc. is an American group of specialty

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

chain store A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many p ...

s for women. The company is headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and currently operates as a subsidiary of

Ascena Retail Group Ascena Retail Group, Inc. was an American retailer of women's clothing. Ascena also owns Lane Bryant clothing store brand, and is the parent company of Ann Inc., operator of Ann Taylor and Loft stores. In 2023 the remaining brands of Ascena wer ...

. The stores offer classic-styled suits, separates, dresses, shoes and accessories. The brand is marketed under five divisions: Ann Taylor, Loft, Lou & Grey, Ann Taylor Factory, and Loft Outlet.

History

Richard Liebeskind, the founder of Ann Taylor, opened his first Ann Taylor store in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, in 1954. "Ann Taylor" was the name of a best-selling dress at Liebeskind's father's store. Both the best-selling dress and the name ''Ann Taylor'' were given by the father to his son, Richard Liebeskind, for good luck. Liebeskind decided to go with the name Ann Taylor because ''Ann'' was considered a very

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

name, and ''Taylor'' evoked the image of tailored clothing. The name supposedly created the ideal identity of classic women's apparel. In May 1991, the company completed an initial public offering resulting in aggregate net proceeds of approximately $166.5 million. In March 2011, the company changed its name to Ann Inc., from Ann Taylor Stores Corporation. As of October 27, 2012, the total store count was 981: of 278 Ann Taylor stores, 101 Ann Taylor Factory stores, 510 Loft stores, and 92 Loft Outlet stores, as well as online at AnnTaylor.com and Loft.com. On May 18, 2015, Ascena Retail Group announced a $2.16 billion acquisition of Ann Inc. The buyout was completed on August 21, 2015. Ann Inc. will operate as an

subsidiary going forward. In 2017, Ann Taylor launched a subscription rental service called Infinite Style. Loft followed up in 2019 with Infinite Loft subscription, a size inclusive subscription business.

Divisions

Ann Taylor is a small US chain of clothing stores for women. Clothing is targeted for fashion forward career women. Ann Taylor was founded in 1954. Loft, originally Ann Taylor Loft, was established in 1996 as an extension of the original Ann Taylor brand, offers more relaxed fashions for work and home, in the "moderate" priced category. The selection provided at Loft initially was a more casual replica to that of the regular Ann Taylor; however, it has developed into its own brand, and now is known as a casual lifestyle brand. Loft also offers maternity clothing. Lou & Grey sells relaxed, comfortable athleisure items and active-wear inspired fashion. An Ann Taylor Factory store

Ann Taylor Factory offers merchandise inspired by Ann Taylor stores, but manufactured for Ann Taylor Factory. Loft Outlet offers a Loft-based outlet environment, similar to the current Ann Taylor Factory stores, with unique Loft Outlet merchandise mirrored from popular and best-selling Loft products. There are currently 128 Loft Outlet stores throughout the United States.

Special collections

Ann Taylor Celebrations was launched in August 2005; it is a signature collection featuring dresses, wraps, sashes, shoes, and bags. Each piece in the collection is dyed to match. The collection can be worn for occasions from wedding parties to black tie and special events. In 2009, this line began being offered online only and was phased out in 2011. Ann Taylor Collections was launched 2007 and consists of luxury apparel, accessories, and shoes made using Italian made fabrics and yarns. The craftsmanship is of an elevated value and the price point is higher than other pieces. It is no longer produced. Ann Taylor Beauty consists of fragrance and bath and body products that were to be available in all Ann Taylor stores beginning late 2007 or early 2008. The Possibilities fragrance was released in November 2007. The body care line consisted of body mist, lotion, and body wash, and came in six scents. It is no longer produced. Loft Maternity was released in Summer 2007 under the motto "Because you have a LOFT to expect." While at first the LOFT Maternity line included only mid-range sizes, it expanded to include all Loft sizes (00–18) in Fall 2007. As of Summer 2010, LOFT Maternity operates exclusively online, using the tag line, "Clothes so stylish and comfortable you'll wish you could wear them for more than nine months."

Flagship stores

Ann Taylor has two flagship locations: * Store 0362: 645

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

* Store 0547: 600

North Michigan Avenue Michigan Avenue is a north-south street in Chicago that runs at 100 east on the Chicago grid. The northern end of the street is at DuSable Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast Historic District. The street's south ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on the

Magnificent Mile The Magnificent Mile (sometimes locally abbreviated to the Mag Mile) is the approximately one-mile-long stretch of Michigan Avenue (Chicago), Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River to Oak Street (Chicago), Oak Street on the Near North Side ...

The company also has a Loft flagship store: * Store 1614: 1459 Broadway at

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

Bankruptcy of Ascena

On July 23, 2020, Ascena, parent company of Ann Inc. filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

, citing the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and subsequent shutdowns as having "severely disrupted" its financial foundation. Stores with locations to be closed include Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lane Bryant and Lou & Grey stores, including all stores across brands in Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico, as well as all Catherine Stores and a "significant number" of Justice stores.

Emergence from bankruptcy

On Dec. 23, 2020, Ascena announced that it had completed the sale of the Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lou & Grey, and Lane Bryant brands to Premium Apparel LLC, an affiliate of

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm

Sycamore Partners Sycamore Partners is an American private equity firm based in New York specializing in retail and consumer investments. The firm has approximately $10 billion in aggregate committed capital. History Founding Sycamore Partners was founded in 2 ...

. Premium Apparel stated that it had committed to retaining a substantial portion of the retail stores, associates, and corporate operations affiliated with these brands.

References

External links

Official website

Ann Taylor Loft official website

Ann Taylor Celebrations official website
{{Authority control 1954 establishments in Connecticut Clothing retailers of the United States Companies based in New York City Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Retail companies established in 1954 2015 mergers and acquisitions Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 Ascena Retail Group