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Francesca 's A Growing Company

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Francesca’s is a growing company that possesses a lot of potential for future growth. The company started in 1999 and was founded in Houston, Texas by three siblings Chong Yi, Kyong Gill and Insuk Koo and one other partner John De Meritt. Originally the company was dedicated to offering accessories, home décor, and jewelry but later came to include apparel because of their growth across the country. Francesca’s became a publicly held company in July on 2011 under the name FRAN and since then the company has gained 11%. Francesca’s brand identity can be characterized as a one of a kind, specialty boutique that builds emphasis on the customer shopping experience. Each boutique carries unique merchandise that varies from store to store so …show more content…

Francesca’s collections attracts many different demographics, but their target market include fashion conscious females between the ages of 18-35. They are mainly college educated and have a moderate to large disposable income. Their customer has a taste for classic items mixed with ethnic inspirations and seek exclusivity and disassociation from others. In a geographic perspective Francesca’s is widely available nationwide in a variety of formats such as free standing and shopping malls. They possess 283 locations in 41 states and continue to grow rapidly.
Because of this rapid growth several challenges can present themselves. A primary challenge that can present itself is the lost of the boutique feel because of the hundreds of locations. Even though each boutique is different and personalized, opening too many locations may cause the retailer to lose its niche in the market. Another challenge is the many changes the company has gone through in upper level management. Because of the changes investors have been discouraged, as mentioned before, and shares were down 16% after the changes.
Some opportunities that Francesca’s can take advantage of are global expansion, and adding a men’s collection to their company. Global expansion into flourishing European countries, such as France, Germany, or Sweden; can take the company into new markets in which they could be well received.

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