Wet Seal Makes G+G Bid

Last May, G+G's former vice president of real estate, Josh Podell, told GSR that his company was rolling out a new prototype on which to model its 500-odd Rave stores, increasing their size from 2,400 sf to up to 3,000 sf. Podell's G+G voicemail indicates that he left the company earlier this month.

"Right now we have two focuses: Change Rave and change Rave Girl," Podell told GSR in a May interview. "We have a lot of growth in both of them, especially Rave Girl with only 70 stores. Once we fix what we feel what might be wrong with Rave Girl and change that, we have a lot of room to grow between the two concepts."

Meanwhile, Foothill Ranch, CA-based Wet Seal has been in a turnaround of its own. During its latest reported financial quarter, which ended Oct. 29, the company posted a $6.5-million loss, down from $24.2 million during the same year-ago period. This year executives had 20 to 25 new stores planned on top of its portfolio of 402 namesake units and its 93-store Arden B. chain, a more expensive concept that targets an older customer. Executives have called Arden, a "strong potential growth vehicle."

Wet Seal has closed about 60 stores since a restructuring a year ago that led to the replacement of many of its top executives. Year-over-year same-store sales have been soaring in the high double digits the past few months.

G+G and Wet Seal executives did not immediately return phone calls for this article. Jeffrey VanSinderen, a retail analyst at B. Riley & Co., says that it is too early to tell exactly what Wet Seal will do with the G+G assets, but there are plenty of possibilities.

"It's a broken business," he says of G+G. "There's definitely much to be done of a significant magnitude." Wet Seal could use the G+G stores as a growth vehicle for Arden B., he says, if they are in "A" or "B" malls.