NEW YORK — Limited Too wants to be a big international player and sees the potential to open more than 500 stores abroad.
However, the Columbus, Ohio, tween chain, operated by Too Inc., has a long way to go. Just 19 international stores, all in the Middle East, are up and running. The units started opening two years ago and are licensed to M.H. Alshaya Co. LLC, the retail division of Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, which manages more than 800 stores in the Mideast, including Starbucks, Claire’s, Liz Claiborne and Tommy Hilfiger.
Alshaya is planning four more Limited Too openings this year, and has rights to Mideast countries only. There are 13 Limited Too stores in Saudi Arabia, three in United Arab Emirates, and one each in Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey.
“With that feather in our cap, we have a tremendous amount of confidence about what Limited Too can mean in other areas in the world,” said Scott Bracale, executive vice president of marketing, Too Inc. He said the company is close to inking a licensing deal in a European country, but gave no details. The goal is to open stores in Europe sometime in the fall.
“We are anxious to move this strategy quickly. Around the globe, we see very few [competitors] anywhere.
“The way the deals work, they [licensees] have to emulate our stores with our build-out. They buy from the Limited Too collection exclusively and operate with standard operating procedures” that could be modified due to holidays particular to the foreign country. “The sales and clearance cadence might be different from ours,” Bracale added. “Back-to-school is huge for us, while [at that time] most of Europe would still be on holiday.”
Asked why Limited Too picked the Middle East for testing international growth, Chris Williams, vice president of international franchising, said being so far away from the U.S. was desirable, just in case problems arose. If the stores were closer to the U.S., like in the U.K., “any misstep would be discussed and observed in the States.”
The risk was reduced further by conducting the international experiment “on a shoestring,” he added, noting no assets or personnel changes were involved, and there was no cash in play. He also said that 70 percent of the Limited Too merchandise is suitable for any climate, and “everybody involved is making money”; Too Inc. receives royalties from sales and a fee for use of its buying office.
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“There’s a 500-plus-store opportunity globally,” said Bracale. Walking into malls in the Middle East, “you think you are in King of Prussia or South Coast Plaza. Tween girls there have confidence and want to assert themselves. Most people would be surprised to learn that the bestsellers there are pretty much the same as our bestsellers here,” he said, citing shrugs, gauchos and casual bottoms.
He noted that another reason for overseas expansion is that Limited Too is a “relatively mature brand” in the U.S. with more than 570 stores. Too Inc. also operates Justice, a 92-unit, more moderately priced chain situated off the mall, which plans 65 openings this year, and envisions 700 to 750 stores eventually.