Dressbarn, the women’s clothing chain that’s been around for nearly 60 years, is closing all 650 of its stores, 45 of which are in California.

The company’s chief financial officer, Steven Taylor, said Dressbarn has not been operating at an “acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment.”

Its owner, Ascena Retail Group Inc., says it wants to focus on its more profitable brands. Ascena also owns Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and other clothing stores.

The company did not say when Dressbarn will shut all its stores. Dressbarn employs about 6,800 people.

After the news was announced Monday, shares of Ascena Retail Group Inc. rose 2.6% to $1.17 in extended trading. Shares of the Mahwah, New Jersey-based company are down more than 50% so far this year. </s> NEW YORK — Dressbarn, a women's clothing chain that's been around for nearly 60 years, is closing all 650 of its stores.

The company's chief financial officer, Steven Taylor, said Dressbarn has not been operating at an "acceptable level of profitability in today's retail environment."

Its owner, Ascena Retail Group Inc., said it wants to focus on its more profitable brands. Ascena also owns Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and other clothing stores.

The company did not say when Dressbarn will shut all its stores. Dressbarn employs about 6,800 people.

According to its website, Dressbarn has 24 stores in Massachusetts, with the only one in MetroWest at Northborough Crossing.

After the news was announced Monday afternoon, shares of Ascena Retail Group Inc. rose 2.6 percent to $1.17 in extended trading. Shares of the Mahwah, New Jersey-based company are down more than 50 percent so far this year. </s> MAHWAH, N.J. – Dressbarn will be closing all 650 of its stores, Ascena Retail Group announced on Monday.

The women’s clothing retailer has locations across the country.

“For more than 50 years, Dressbarn has served women’s fashion needs, and we thank all of our dedicated associates for their commitment to Dressbarn and our valued customers. This decision was difficult, but necessary, as the Dressbarn chain has not been operating at an acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment,” said Steven Taylor, Dressbarn chief financial officer, in a news release on Monday.

Ascena Retail Group did not release a timeline for the closures, and said stores and the website remain operational. There are no current changes to the return, refund or gift card policies.

“During the wind down process, we will continue to provide our customers with the same great experience both in-store and online, offering them even better deals and value. We will work to assist our associates through the transition and maintain existing relationships with our vendors, suppliers, and other key stakeholders through this process,” Taylor said. </s> DressBarn, the women's clothing chain, is closing all 650 of its stores after being in business for nearly 60 years.

Parent company Ascena Retail Group based in Mahwah said it plans to focus on its more profitable brands, such as Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant.

DressBarn CFO Steven Taylor said the chain "has not been operating at an acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment.”

Dressbarn has locations in Bloomfield, Edgewater, Hackensack, Kearny, Paramus, Westwood, Clifton, Florham Park, Parsippany, Wayne, Succasunna, Rockaway, Watchung, Union and more.

The closures won’t take place immediately and the company did not say when the stores are expected to shut down. In the meantime, in-store and online sales will continue, Dressbarn said.

DressBarn said that employees will be updated as decisions are made about when specific stores will close.

Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts. </s> Mahwah-based Dressbarn, the women's clothing chain that's been around for nearly 60 years, is closing all 650 of its stores.

There are 29 Dressbarn stores in New Jersey, including Clifton, Hackensack, Kearny, Paramus, Parsippany, Ramsey, Rockaway, Wayne and Westwood.

The company's chief financial officer, Steven Taylor, said Dressbarn has not been operating at an "acceptable level of profitability in today's retail environment."

Its owner, Ascena Retail Group Inc., says it wants to focus on its more profitable brands. Ascena also owns Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and other clothing stores.

The company did not say when Dressbarn will shut all its stores. Dressbarn employs about 6,800 people.

 After the news was announced Monday, shares of Ascena Retail Group Inc. rose 2.6% to $1.17 in extended trading. Shares of the company are down more than 50% so far this year.

More: Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell coming to proposed Stop & Shop renovation in Paramus

More: Garden State Plaza getting overhaul that would add apartments, give Paramus a 'downtown' </s> FAIRMOUNT, N.Y. -- Exactly four months after Dressbarn closed its Destiny USA store in Syracuse, its parent company announced Monday the women’s clothing chain is preparing to close all 650 of its stores.

Dressbarn has been around for nearly 60 years, and offers a collection of clothing for women from petites to plus sizes.

Another Dressbarn store at the Fairmount Fair Mall, 3581 W. Genesee St. in Fairmount, remains open for now. It is not yet known when the Fairmount Dressbarn store or others will close.

Dressbarn has not been operating at an “acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment,” according to the company’s chief financial officer, Steven Taylor.

Its owner, Ascena Retail Group Inc., says it wants to focus on its more profitable brands. Ascena owns Ann Taylor, Catherines, Lane Bryant, LOFT and Justice, among other clothing stores. It also operates e-commerce websites and approximately 3,500 stores throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, according to a news release.

“This decision (to close all of the Dressbarn stores) has no impact on the operations of any of Ascena’s other brands and will strengthen the company’s overall financial performance,” according to the release.

After the news was announced Monday, shares of Ascena Retail Group Inc. rose 2.6% to $1.17 in extended trading, according to the Associated Press. Shares of the Mahwah, New Jersey-based company are down more than 50% so far this year. </s> Ascena Retail Group, which has been conducting a “comprehensive portfolio review,” announced it will shutter all of its Dressbarn casual wear stores due to their lack of profitability.

The closure of the roughly 650 Dressbarn stores follows Ascena’s announcement in March that it would sell its majority stake in the Maurices brand to a private equity company for about $210 million.

The decision to shutter Dressbarn “was difficult, but necessary, as the Dressbarn chain has not been operating at an acceptable level of profitability,” CFO Steven Taylor said Monday in a news release, repeating language that former Chief Executive David Jaffe used to describe the brand’s performance in a recent earnings call.

Ascena, which also owns apparel chains Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, and Loft, has failed to make a profit since 2014 and has cumulatively lost over $1 billion in GAAP earnings since 2015. At the same time, debt has soared to more than $1 billion to finance acquisitions.

At the time it announced the Maurices sale, Ascena said it would evaluate selling more assets as part of a “comprehensive portfolio review.” It did not explain Monday why it had decided to wind down Dressbarn rather than sell the brand.

Dressbarn “has struggled to grow in apparel retailing as more women steer toward fast-fashion retailers such as H&M and Zara, off-price chains such as TJ Maxx and Ross Stores, and even Target,” CNBC said.

According to The Motley Fool, “Ascena’s goal was to become the largest fashion chain dedicated to women across price points and segments of the market,” with Dressbarn being positioned as a discount store for casual wear.

But “the benefits of running a portfolio of retail brands have failed to materialize in profits,” The Motley Fool said, noting that the Ascena brands selling at lower price points, such as Dressbarn, are significantly underperforming the premium-priced brands such as Ann Taylor.

More than 7,000 retail store closures have been announced so far this year, already surpassing the total announced in all of 2018 that included all Toys R Us stores. </s> Dressbarn is going out of business and plans to close all of its approximately 650 stores, the women’s retail chain said Monday.

“For more than 50 years, Dressbarn has served women’s fashion needs, and we thank all of our dedicated associates for their commitment to Dressbarn and our valued customers,” the retailer’s Chief Financial Officer Steven Taylor said in a statement. “This decision was difficult, but necessary, as the Dressbarn chain has not been operating at an acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment.”

Dressbarn has about 6,800 employees, according to the company. An exact closing date for the stores was not immediately announced. For now, the stores would remain open and customers can continue to shop online at Dressbarn.com, according to the announcement.

“We will work to assist our associates through the transition and maintain existing relationships with our vendors, suppliers, and other key stakeholders through this process,” Taylor said.

Dressbarn is owned by Mahwah-based Ascena Retail Group, which is the parent of brands including Ann Taylor, Loft and Lane Bryant. Ascena said in 2017 it planned to close hundreds of stores as it contended with a struggling brick and mortar retail market.

Ascena Retail Group broke ground on a 195,000 square-foot office on MacArthur Boulevard in Mahwah in 2013 after receiving a $32.4 million Grow New Jersey tax credit to move from Suffern, New York.

A company spokesman did not immediately respond to an email Monday night seeking more information.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters </s> NEW YORK (AP) — Dressbarn, the women's clothing chain that's been around for nearly 60 years, is closing all 650 of its stores.

The company's chief financial officer, Steven Taylor, said Dressbarn has not been operating at an "acceptable level of profitability in today's retail environment."

Its owner, Ascena Retail Group Inc., says it wants to focus on its more profitable brands. Ascena also owns Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and other clothing stores.

readFull hearst/ads/medium_rectangle_ad_first.tpl e medium_rectangle_ad_first.tpl The company did not say when Dressbarn will shut all its stores. Dressbarn employs about 6,800 people. San Antonio has one Dressbarn store located at the Ingram Festival Shop Center. hearst/ads/medium_rectangle_ad_third.tpl e medium_rectangle_ad_third.tpl After the news was announced Monday, shares of Ascena Retail Group Inc. rose 2.6% to $1.17 in extended trading. Shares of the Mahwah, New Jersey-based company are down more than 50% so far this year. /assetEnd
Ascena Retail Group announces it will close all 650 Dressbarn stores by the end of the year.