Chico’s expands in Lee County with three new stores

Chico’s just opened three new stores in Southwest Florida on Wednesday. But the expansion comes at a time when so many other stores are closing their doors.

Some customers, like Joy Mucci, take their money to brick and mortars rather than the increasingly dominant form of online shopping.

“You have to try things on,” Mucci said. “Sizes are always different!”

WINK News had an exclusive look at the three new stores Chico’s, a retail company based in Lee County, opened.

Bonnie Brooks, the CEO of Chico’s, calls these new locations just the beginning for the brand.

“Across the United States stores are closing, fashion businesses are closing stores more than opening,” Brooks said. “But this year we plan to open several stores.”

Despite his statement, the chain has intentions to close around 250 stores, which lays off hundreds of people. Mary Van Praag said this area works for the retail store.

“This happens to be a good market for us,” Praag said. “We have a lot of saturation here. But there are other places like New York or Los Angeles that we don’t have a high concentration per capita.”

Now, Chico’s is employing a strategy to boost its bottom line and hopefully continue bringing more jobs and businesses to Lee County.

“Since all of us have come on board, we’ve just been product, product, product analyzing the fit, making sure quality of the goods,” Molly Langenstein, Chico’s president of apparel, said to WINK News. “Staying focused on the core values and core business values is what lifts the stock price ultimately.”