Express 2011 Annual Report Download - page 12

PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
In this section, “Express”,”we”, “us,” “the Company”, and “our” refer to Express, Inc. together with its
predecessors and its consolidated subsidiaries as a combined entity. Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest
to January 31. Fiscal years are referred to by the calendar year in which the fiscal year commences. All
references herein to “2011”, “2010”, and “2009” refer to the 52-week periods ended January 28, 2012,
January 29, 2011, and January 30, 2010, respectively.
General
Express is a nationally recognized specialty apparel and accessory retailer offering both women’s and men’s
merchandise. We have over 30 years of experience offering a distinct combination of style and quality at an
attractive value to women and men between 20 and 30 years old. We offer our customers an assortment of
fashionable apparel and accessories to address fashion needs across multiple aspects of their lifestyles, including
work, casual, jeanswear, and going-out occasions. We opened our first store in 1980, in Chicago, Illinois as a
division of Limited Brands, Inc. (“Limited Brands”) and launched our men’s apparel line in 1987, which was
rebranded under the Structure name in 1989. In the mid 1990s, we experienced a period of rapid expansion,
resulting in the operation of over 1,000 stores by the year 2000, including a women’s and men’s store in the same
shopping center in many cases. In 2001, we began to consolidate our separate women’s and men’s stores into
combined dual-gender stores under the Express brand. This conversion was largely completed in 2010. In 2007,
Golden Gate Private Equity, Inc. (“Golden Gate”) acquired a majority stake in Express, LLC, our operating
company, from Limited Brands (the “Golden Gate Acquisition”), and we began to operate as a stand-alone
company. We have since completed numerous initiatives to strengthen our business, including largely
completing the dual gender conversion discussed above, re-designing our go-to-market strategy, and launching
our e-commerce platform. Our transition to a stand-alone company culminated in our initial public offering
(“IPO”) that was completed in May 2010. In 2011, we opened our first stores in Canada.
In connection with our IPO in May 2010, we converted from a Delaware limited liability company into a
Delaware corporation and changed our name from Express Parent LLC (“Express Parent”) to Express, Inc. As
part of this conversion, all of the equity interests of Express Parent, which consisted of Class L, Class A, and
Class C units, were converted into shares of our common stock at a ratio of 0.702, 0.649, and 0.442, respectively.
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we refer to all of these events that occurred in connection with the IPO as
the “Reorganization”. All share and per share information in the accompanying Consolidated Financial
Statements and related Notes have been retrospectively recast to reflect this conversion. Throughout this Annual
Report on Form 10-K, the term Express Parent refers to Express Parent LLC prior to the Reorganization, and to
Express, Inc. after the Reorganization. The term “Express Topco” refers to Express Topco LLC, a Delaware
limited liability company, and “Express Holding” refers to Express Holding, LLC, a Delaware limited liability
company, each of which is one of our wholly-owned subsidiaries and, in each case, does not include any of its
own subsidiaries.
As of January 28, 2012, we operated 609 stores. Our stores are located primarily in high-traffic shopping malls,
lifestyle centers, and street locations across the United States, in Canada, and in Puerto Rico, and average
approximately 8,700 gross square feet. We also sell our products through our e-commerce website, express.com.
Our stores and website are designed to create an exciting shopping environment that reflects the sexy,
sophisticated, and social brand image that we seek to project. Our 2011 net sales were comprised of
approximately 65% women’s merchandise and approximately 35% men’s merchandise. Our product assortment
is a mix of core styles balanced with the latest fashions, a combination we believe our customers look for and
value in our brand.
We report one segment, which includes the operation of our brick and mortar retail stores and the express.com
e-commerce website, because this is the basis that we use to evaluate performance internally.
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