Express, Inc.



Express, Inc. is an American fashion retailer whose portfolio includes Express, Bonobos and UpWest. The Company operates an omnichannel platform as well as physical and online stores. The company consists of the brands Express, Bonobos, and UpWest, and is traded on the OTC Pink under the symbol EXPR.

The company is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Express, INC operates 500+ stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala.

History
Limited Brands, in 1980, opened the first Express store, as women's clothier "Limited Express" in Chicago's Water Tower Place. Former CEO Michael Weiss joined the brand in 1981 when the test expanded to include eight stores. By 1986, Express had 250 stores and began testing the sale of men's merchandise in 16 stores the following year. The men's fashion line was spun off into its own brand, Structure, in 1989.

In 1990, its beauty line became a standalone retailer called Bath & Body Works.

In 2001, Express became a dual gender brand with the reintegration of its Structure stores as "Express Men". Dual gender Express stores began opening the following year. Structure apparel brand was sold to Sears in 2003.

In November 2019, Express announced spinoff UpWest, a DTC lifestyle brand geared towards health, wellness, and sustainability. With the launch of UpWest also came its philanthropic arm, The UpWest Foundation, which will donate 1% of total sales up to $1million towards Mental Health America, Random Acts and Freedom Dogs of America.

In April 2023, Express, Inc and management firm WHP Global agreed to acquire Bonobos from Walmart.

Bankruptcy
In August 2023, Express announced that they would be laying off 150 workers in effort to achieve $150 million in annualized expense reductions by the end of 2025. On October 24, 2023, Express warned that it may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it has been hit hard from the COVID-19 pandemic, stating store sales have been declining for years and rising costs putting the company in heavy debt.

In February 2024, Express warned it was preparing for a debt restructuring process and a bankruptcy filing within the upcoming weeks and had hired M3 and Kirkland & Ellis to advise the company on discussions with lenders and bondholders.

On April 2, 2024, Express warned that it could file for bankruptcy as soon as the following week as it asked for lenders to help finance the bankruptcy procedure. It was having trouble paying its creditors. As a result, Express' stock fell approximately 14%. On April 22, 2024, Express and all of its affiliated subsidiaries declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, listing assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. The company announced plans to close 95 Express stores and all of its UpWest stores. Liquidation sales began on April 23, with the affected stores to conclude liquidation sales by June 30. The company also received a non-binding letter from WHP Global for the sale of most of its stores, operations, and assets. That same day, Express announced that it would sell itself in Chapter 11 to a group led by Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties, and also warned that more closures could come within weeks.

On April 23, 2024, Express warned that it could be forced to liquidate if it is unable to complete a proposed buyout within the next 30 days.

Express as a privately held company
In May 2007, Limited Brands announced its intent to sell a 67% stake in Express to an affiliate of a private equity firm called Golden Gate Capital Partners, based in San Francisco. When the sale was finalized in July 2007, Golden Gate's stake in the company was 75% instead of the announced 67%.

In May 2010, there was an initial public offering, On May 13, the company sold 16 million shares for $17 each, raising about $272 million. Shares had been planned to sell between $18 and $20 each. On May 14, the shares opened at $17 to $16.50 before recovering slightly to close down 1.5% at $16.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Since the IPO, Golden Gate and Limited Brands gradually reduced their ownership interest in the Company. In July 2011, Limited Brands sold its remaining ownership interest in the Company, and as a result of this disposition, ceased to be a related party as of the end of the second quarter of 2011. In March 2012, Golden Gate sold its remaining ownership interest in the Company, and as of May 31, 2012, Golden Gate no longer had representation on the Board. As a result of the disposition and Board seat removal, Golden Gate ceased to be a related party as of June 2012.

Design studio
Express clothes are designed at the Express Design Studio on 111 Fifth Avenue New York City, New York in Manhattan's Flatiron District.