PACIFIC SUNWEAR OF CALIFORNIA INC. Anaheim, Calif.; Surf Look Has Retailer Riding Financial Wave.(THE NEW AMERICA)

Publication: Investor's Business Daily

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2003 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.

Byline: NANCY GONDO

Teens can be tough customers for retailers, since their tastes change as quickly as their favorite pop or rock stars.

To succeed, you need to keep up with the trends. Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. has a simple strategy for doing that: It asks customers and store managers which brands are hot.

"We're probably aware of the brand anyway, but that just reinforces the fact that it may be important to us," said Carl Womack, Pacific Sunwear's chief financial officer.

The Anaheim, Calif.-based chain specializes in surf- and skate-inspired clothes. It has 719 PacSun stores and also runs the 112-store d.e.m.o. chain, a hip-hop urban-style clothing concept it launched five years ago to target young adults in suburban areas.

Unlike rival Gap Inc., which tends...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.