Justice is an online (shopjustice.com) clothing and lifestyle retailer targeting the
tween girl market, formerly owned by Tween Brands, Inc. (formerly known as Limited Too, Inc. and Too, Inc.), later by
Ascena Retail Group, and currently by Bluestar Alliance LLC.
Justice sells apparel, underwear, sleepwear, swimwear, lifestyle, accessories, and personal care products for girls age roughly 6–12. Justice formerly
operated in malls and shopping centers. Tween Brands operated 900 Justice stores at the time of its acquisition by
DressBarn
Dressbarn.com (branded as dressbarn) is an online retailer owned by Retail Ecommerce Ventures. Its predecessor is the former chain of women's clothing stores owned by Ascena which operated as Dressbarn from 1962 until 2019. Since 2020, it is owne ...
, many of which were converted from
Limited Too
Limited Too was a clothing and lifestyle retailer, and current brand, targeting the Tween (demographic), tween girl market, formerly owned by Tween Brands, Inc. (formerly known as Limited Too, Inc. and Too, Inc.). Since 2015, the brand has been own ...
during 2008 to 2010.
Justice operates "Club Justice" as a loyalty program. You can earn points and redeem these points for discounts on purchases.
Justice also sold licensed merchandise from popular
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
and
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
franchises, such as ''
iCarly
''iCarly'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider, which originally aired on Nickelodeon from September 8, 2007, to November 23, 2012. The series tells the story of Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), a teenager who creates and hosts ...
'', ''
Victorious
''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider (TV producer), Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. Th ...
'', ''
Wizards of Waverly Place
''Wizards of Waverly Place'' is an American fantasy teen sitcom created by Todd J. Greenwald that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between October 2007 and January 2012. The series centers on Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), a teenage wiza ...
'', and ''
Liv and Maddie
''Liv and Maddie'', also known as ''Liv and Maddie: Cali Style'' for the fourth season, is an American comedy television series created by John D. Beck and Ron Hart that aired on Disney Channel from July 19, 2013 to March 24, 2017. The series ...
''.
Justice carried girls size 6 through size 20,
as well as plus sizes for size 10–24.
Plus sized dresses, tops and jackets are available online and select styles in store.
Justice had over 1,000 stores at its peak in March 2016.
These stores were mainly located in Canada and the United States of America, however, some stores were located in Mexico, Central America, South America, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.
Since August 2021
Walmart Canada
Walmart Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of Walmart which is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. It was founded on March 17, 1994, with the purchase of the Woolco Canada chain from the F. W. Woolworth Company.
Originally consisting of disco ...
began carrying Justice line at 326 across Canada.
History
![Tween Brands (logo)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Tween_Brands_%28logo%29.gif)
Limited Too was created by
The Limited, Inc. in 1987 as a younger girls/infants version of
The Limited
The Limited was an American clothing retailer that operated retail stores between the early 1960s and the late 2010s. After 2007, it became a brand, originally owned by the private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, now owned by another private equ ...
. From 1987 to 1995, the number of stores increased from two to 288 different retail locations. In 1996, a new senior management team refocused Limited Too into a preteen girls fashion store. In 1999, Limited Too, Inc. spun off to establish a strong and independent brand identity.
From 2001 to 2003 the company operated the Mishmash chain that targeted 15- to 20-year-old women and sold apparel, accessories, and gifts and competed head-to-head with chains like
Gadzooks,
Wet Seal
Wet Seal is an American fast fashion retailer, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The retailer specializes in selling clothing and accessories. The company was founded in Newport Beach, California, by Lorne Huycke in 1962 as "Lorne's". Th ...
, and the women's businesses of
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februar ...
,
Hollister Co.
Hollister Co., often advertised as Hollister or HCo., is a retail brand owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co, selling apparel, accessories, and fragrances. Goods are available in-store and through the company's online store. Hollister uses a narrativ ...
, and
American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., also known as American Eagle, is an American lifestyle, clothing, and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverma ...
. The chain folded in 2003 because Too Inc. felt that they knew and understood the preteen customer better. Committed to this focus, Too Inc. launched the first Justice: Just for Girls stores in January 2004; many of the early Justice stores were in converted Mishmash stores.
On July 10, 2006, Too Inc. completed its name change to Tween Brands, Inc., and began trading on the NYSE under the symbol, 'TWB'. In February 2008, there were 582 Limited Too stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico as well as 25 franchised stores in the Middle East. At its peak, Limited Too had over 600 stores, many of which were converted to the Justice brand between December 2008 and June 2010.
On June 25, 2009, Dressbarn announced that it would buy Tween Brands, Inc, in a friendly acquisition. In 2010, Tween Brands began a boys clothing line entitled “Brothers”. Clothing from Brothers was initially sold online only, but was eventually sold in select Justice stores as well as standalone Brothers stores.
On January 1, 2011, Dress Barn completed its reorganization into Ascena Retail Group, Inc. trading on the NASDAQ under the stock ticker symbol .
In 2012, Brothers clothing began being sold in several Justice stores.
Over 20 Justice stores sold Brothers clothing by 2013.
The Brothers headquarters is located in Ohio.
By June 2012, the number of Justice stores had increased to 920. The chain outsold the much larger
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
stores in the girls' apparel category during the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.
[Klara, Robert]
"It's Not Easy Being Tween"
''Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...
'', 27 June 2012 (accessed 15 December 2012)
![Closed Justice at Colonie Mall, 8-16-20](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Closed_Justice_at_Colonie_Mall%2C_8-16-20.jpg)
On February 17, 2015, Ascena Retail Group, Inc. announced that the Brothers brand would be discontinued due to poor sales and recognition. Justice later added more product lines in response to changing consumer tastes, including ''Justice Active'' inspired by
athleisure
Athleisure is a hybrid style of athletic clothing typically worn as everyday wear. Athleisure outfits can include yoga pants, tights, sneakers, leggings and shorts that look like athletic wear, characterized as "fashionable, dressed-up sweats and ...
trends, with products endorsed by
Mackenzie Ziegler
Mackenzie Frances Ziegler (born June 4, 2004) is an American singer, actress, former dancer, and internet personality. She first gained notice as a child while appearing for six years on the Lifetime reality dance series ''Dance Moms'' togethe ...
, as well as
JoJo Siwa
Joelle Joanie "JoJo" Siwa (; born May 19, 2003) is an American dancer, singer, actress and YouTuber. She is known for appearing for two seasons on ''Dance Moms'' along with her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, and for her singles "Boomerang" and "Kid in ...
clothing and accessories.
In 2018, Justice launched an original series of
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
s and toys called ''Ultra Squad'' designed to be empowering to tween girls; the book series was well received and is currently on its fourth volume.
As part of Ascena Retail Group's bankruptcy reorganization in July 2020, 600 Justice locations are slated to close, leaving around 100 open. Ascena also announced that the Justice brand will also solely focus on online sales. Additionally, Justice has exited international markets due to the bankruptcy of Ascena Retail Group. On September 24, 2020, Justice announced an additional 23 Justice stores will be closing, leaving 83 stores by the end of October. On October 22, 2020, Ascena announced the remaining 83 Justice stores will also be closing as a part of their bankruptcy filing.
On November 11, 2020, Ascena Retail Group announced that the Justice brand was acquired by Bluestar Alliance LLC. The final remaining Justice stores closed on December 17, 2020, after months of liquidation sales, marking an end to a 33-year legacy for the once-dominant clothing retailer. The remaining assets of the Justice brand was sold to Premier Brands Group in December 2020.
In 2021, Justice relaunched the Shopjustice.com website under its new owners. The brand began to be sold at
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
stores. This fills the void left by their brand stores that closed in 2020.
Criticism
When examined in the study “’Putting on’ Sexiness: A Content Analysis of the Presence of Sexualizing Characteristics in Girls' Clothing”, Justice had interesting results.
A total of 650 clothing pieces were analyzed into four groups defined as childish, sexual, both childish and sexual and neither childish nor sexual.
Of the clothing documented, 413 pieces or 63.5% of the clothing was defined as childish, 12 pieces or 1.8% of the clothing was defined as sexual, and 225 pieces or 34.6% of the clothing was considered both childish and sexual.
No clothing from Justice was considered neither childish nor sexual.
References
External links
Official Justice website
{{Ascena Retail Group
Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Children's clothing retailers
Retail companies established in 2004
2004 establishments in Ohio
American companies established in 2004