New Link in Chain
Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said Thursday it will open a second chain of retail stores this year known as d.e.m.o., which will cater to the urban and multiethnic teen market.
Starting in April, the company will open 15 d.e.m.o. stores, including ones in Riverside and Bakersfield, by converting underperforming Pacific Sunwear stores, by renaming all of its Good Vibrations stores in Florida and by signing new leases.
The new chain will target 12- to 29-year-old males but won’t have much overlap with the predominantly surf and skateboard apparel found in Pacific Sunwear stores. The stores will carry such labels as Nautica, Enyce, Ecko, Phat Farm and PNB.
The chain will account for 25% of the 60 stores Pacific Sunwear plans to open this year.
If the stores prove successful, about 20 of the 75 stores the company plans to open in 1999 will be d.e.m.o stores, Chairman Greg Weaver said Thursday. Pacific Sunwear has 272 stores in 37 states.
