So long, and thanks for all the maxi skirts. The teen retailer is performing horribly by every measure, and soon could be delisted from the Nasdaq.
Delia's / Via Facebook: shopdelias
Last year, Delia's believed it was poised for a major turnaround. Today, the teen chain, best known for its popular '90s catalogs, is gasping for air.
Delia's, which spells its name dELiA*s, is trading for pennies on the stock market – it closed at 11 cents a share on Friday — and is set to be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market on or around Monday, Nov. 3, its deadline for meeting compliance standards. It's on the hunt for an acquirer after reporting that with the way its business is going, it won't be able to meet its cash requirements for the next 12 months. Sales for the last four quarters have all been down by at least 20% over the previous year; executives said on an investor call in September that the chain will no longer provide earnings guidance.
It's a long way from the story the company was telling last year, when new CEO Tracy Gardner, a former J. Crew executive, told investors she would "create a unified brand image" and "rejuvenate" the struggling business.
Delia's was adored by teen girls in the '90s, when it was exceptionally skilled at knowing what they wanted. The very spelling of the name, dELiA*s, is plucked straight from the AOL Instant Messaging habits of a 14-year-old in 1998. It was an event to receive the Delia's catalog, in which tHe sEnTeNcEs wErE wRiTtEn LiKe tHiS, with gaps for mad libs. The chain carried flowered chokers, flares, baggy cords, and maxi skirts galore. In short, it was on point for the '90s and sales flourished. Just three years after the company was founded as a catalog business by two male Yale alumni in 1993, it went public.
Jille Edge/Flickr: missjille
