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Ascena Retail Group

Ascena Retail Group Inc.
Dressbarn
Public
Traded as NASDAQASNA
S&P 600 Component
Industry Retail (Women's clothing)
Predecessor DressBarn
Founded Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. (1962)
Founder Roslyn Jaffe
Headquarters Mahwah, New Jersey, U.S.
Number of locations
3,900 (2014)
Key people
Roslyn Jaffe, Founder
David R. Jaffe, President and CEO
Elliot Jaffe, Chairman
Products Women's clothing products (district stores for young women and older women)
Revenue IncreaseUS$ 6.995 billion (2016)
Increase US$ 94.6 million (2016)
Increase US$ -11.9 million (2016)
Total assets Increase US$ 5.506 billion (2016)
Total equity Increase US$ 1.863 billion (2016)
Number of employees
16,000 (full time) (2016)
Subsidiaries Ann Taylor
Cacique
Catherines
DressBarn
Lane Bryant
Lou & Grey
Maurices
Loft
Justice
Website www.ascenaretail.com

Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (formerly Dress Barn and doing business as Dressbarn) is an American retailer of women's clothing. Ascena also owns the Maurices, Justice, Lane Bryant, and Catherines clothing store brands, and is the parent company of Ann Inc., operator of Ann Taylor and Loft stores.

Chairman Elliot Jaffe and his wife and co-founder, Roslyn, own about 25% of Ascena.

The first Dress Barn was opened in 1962 in Stamford, Connecticut, by Roslyn Jaffe. Jaffe saw the opportunity to provide wear-to-work dresses and clothing for the working woman during a time in the U.S. when women were entering the workforce and there were few options.

The company began trading on NASDAQ (symbol DBRN) in 1982. In January 2011, to reflect the company's broader holdings, the company was reorganized as a Delaware corporation named Ascena Retail Group, Inc. At this time the NASDAQ symbol was also changed to ASNA.

In 2009, Dress Barn expanded into the girls' clothing market by purchasing Tween Brands, the owner of the Justice chain of 891 stores. Justice, which is aimed at girls between ages 7 and 14, is the effective successor of Limited Too, originally launched in 1987 by The Limited to serve the same market. In 1999, The Limited spun off Limited Too as a separate company. In 2004, Limited Too launched the Justice chain, aimed at a lower price point in the same market. Limited Too changed its name to Tween Brands in 2008, and the company had almost completely converted its remaining Limited Too stores to Justice stores at the time of the DressBarn acquisition.

In November 2013, David Jaffe, president and chief executive officer of Ascena, announced Dressbarn was opening a New York design studio. Also in November 2013, Judith Langley, who was executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Charming Charlie’s, was appointed executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. She replaced Keith Fulsher, who retired.

On May 18, 2015, Ascena Group agreed to a $2.16 billion acquisition of Ann Inc., the parent company of clothing retailers Ann Taylor and Loft. Ascena Group completed its acquisition of Ann Inc on August 21, 2015. Ann Inc. operates as an Ascena Group subsidiary.


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