Gadzooks, Inc. was a mall-based teenage clothing retailer. It was acquired by

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

in 2005 and then shut down. Gadzooks stores had a life-size version of part of a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

inside. Dozens of the cars were sawed in half for use as displays throughout its locations during the 1990s.

History

The company was founded in 1983 as a T-shirt business by brothers-in-law Jerry Szczepanski and Larry Titus, and inspired by the shopping habits of Szczepanski's teenage sons. The first store was in

Mesquite, Texas Mesquite is a suburban city located east of the city of Dallas, Texas, in the United States. Most of the city is located in Dallas County, though a small portion extends into Kaufman County. As of 2019 census estimates, the population was 140 ...

. In order to fill floorspace, the founders displayed an "old, white Volks-wagen bug" in the store. By 1992, the company had 33 stores in Texas. In 1995, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

and within three months, the share price quadrupled from $15 to $61. That year the company had 195 stores. In 2000, the company operated 330 Gadzooks in 35 states. In 2003, in response to heightened competition, the company retooled, shifting from being a "mini-department store", and dropping its male clothing line, to focus exclusively on 16- to 22-year-old females, which proved a fatal shift in its viability. Gadzooks was one of the first national retail chains to adopt the teenage shopper as its target market. In February 2004, the company filed

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and announced plans to reduce its store count from 410 to 252. In March 2005,

purchased the chain for $33 million. The stores were eventually phased out.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB913167450743911000 , title=Underground Tastemakers: Delia's, Gadzooks and Others , first=Emily, last=Nelson , work=

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, date=December 1998 {{cite news , url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/its-like-you-know/ , title=It's Like, You Know , first=SKIP , last=HOLLANDSWORTH , work=

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

, date=June 1999 {{cite news , url=https://www.newsday.com/business/u-s-chain-restaurants-stores-that-no-longer-exist-include-sports-authority-borders-the-wiz-1.13012088 , title=U.S. chains that no longer exist , first=Ted , last=Starkey , work=

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

, date=May 15, 2018 {{cite news , url=https://www.racked.com/2014/8/27/7579267/mall-stores-fashion-bug-lerner-gadzooks , title=Where Are They Now: The Great Suburban Mall Store Demise , first=Casey , last=Lewis , work=

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 by ...

, date=August 27, 2014 {{cite news , url=https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2003/01/06/daily39.html , title=Gadzooks to sell only women's clothing , publisher=Dallas Business Journal , website=

American City Business Journals American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

, date=January 9, 2003 {{cite news , url=https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2004/02/02/daily29.html , title=Gadzooks files for bankruptcy protection , publisher=St. Louis Business Journal , website=

, date=February 3, 2004 {{Cite web, date=2019-09-30, title=Mall stalwart Forever 21 files for bankruptcy as e-commerce cuts into sales, url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2019/09/30/mall-stalwart-forever-21-files-for-bankruptcy-as-e-commerce-cuts-into-sales/, access-date=2020-08-10, website=Dallas News, language=en {{Cite web, last=Lewis, first=Casey, date=2014-08-27, title=Where Are They Now: The Great Suburban Mall Store Demise, url=https://www.racked.com/2014/8/27/7579267/mall-stores-fashion-bug-lerner-gadzooks, access-date=2020-08-10, website=Racked, language=en {{cite news , url=https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2005/03/14/daily40.html , title=Forever 21 wraps up Gadzooks deal , website=

, publisher=Dallas Business Journal , date=March 17, 2005 1983 establishments in Texas Defunct clothing retailers of the United States American companies established in 1983 Retail companies established in 1983 Retail companies disestablished in 2005 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004 2005 mergers and acquisitions