Maurices Inc., stylized as maurices, is an American women's clothing retail chain based in

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Founded in 1931 in Duluth, the chain comprises more than 1,000 stores in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, primarily located in

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

s and smaller towns. The founding Labovitz family sold Maurices to the

Brenninkmeijer family Brenninkmeijer () is a Roman Catholic Dutch, German and Swiss family of manufacturers, which own an international chain of clothing stores. Originally the family came from Tecklenburger Land (Westphalia) in Germany, selling linen in Friesland ...

's American Retail Group in 1978.

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 ...

acquired it from American Retail Group in 2005.

History

Maurices was founded by Emanuel Morris “E. Maurice” Labovitz (1900-1993), who opened his first store under the name Maurices Dress Shop, 1931 in Duluth. The name was shortened to simply Maurices by the late 1960's. In 2011, Maurices was rated one of the "Top Ten Best Employers in Retail" by

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

. In March 2019, Ascena sold a majority stake in Maurices to a U.S. subsidiary of London-based private equity firm OpCapita LLP at a valuation of $300 million. Maurices' leadership team remained in place, with the addition of former GAP CEO Jeff Kirwan as the company's new executive chairman. Ascena will retain a minority stake in the company. In a public statement released after the transaction, OpCapita's CEO Henry Jackson said he would “welcome the continued support of Ascena through their retained stake and the range of services they will provide.”

Celebrity endorsements

In November 2011, Maurices announced a cooperation with celebrity designer

Christopher Straub Christopher Straub is a fashion designer who was a contestant on Project Runway season 6, season 6 of the competitive reality show ''Project Runway'' and also appeared on season 1 of the competitive reality show ''Models of the Runway'' as the d ...

from the reality television show ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...

'' season 6, which aired on Lifetime Network. The products are labeled Christopher Straub for maurices and were released nationwide on Friday, November 25, 2011. Straub also designed a plush puppy as part of the collection to benefit the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

. This cooperation is a follow-up to the maurices Main Street Model Search"Maurices Main Street Model Search"
which occurred earlier in 2011 with Straub.

References

External links

Maurices official website
Clothing retailers of the United States Companies based in Duluth, Minnesota Companies based in Minnesota Retail companies established in 1931 1931 establishments in Minnesota Ascena Retail Group American companies established in 1931 {{US-retail-company-stub