francesca's® Expands Portfolio with Acquisition of Lifestyle Brand, Richer Poorer

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May 02, 2023, 07:00 ET

Free-spirited fashion and lifestyle company francesca's® continues to focus on omni-channel brand building and women-owned businesses

HOUSTON, May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Francesca's Acquisition LLC, a specialty retailer operating a nationwide chain of francesca's® and franki by francesca's® boutiques providing customers with unique and carefully curated fashion, accessories, jewelry, and lifestyle products, today announced the asset purchase of California-based wardrobe essentials brand, Richer Poorer. This integration will put Richer Poorer under the francesca's® Acquisition LLC umbrella as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Two years into a multi-year enterprise growth strategy after being taken private in 2021 by TerraMar Capital LLC, francesca's® has continued to prioritize growing its eCommerce channel and customer experience, scaling tween brand franki by francesca's®, expanding physical boutique experiences, as well as most recently launching the fran Club loyalty platform and forever fran, a re-sale partnership with thredUP.

Prioritizing these brand pillars has helped deliver substantial performance momentum for the company to date, and francesca's® Acquisition LLC now shifts gears to focus on targeted acquisitions and the expansion into a multi-branded company. The Richer Poorer acquisition bolsters channel reach, including leveraging its robust wholesale network, and introduces new product categories to the brand's portfolio mix. This allows the company to grow its share of wallet among the Gen Z and Millennial women's segments.

"I am delighted to welcome the Richer Poorer team into our expanding portfolio and recognize their success in growing Richer Poorer from start up into a Gen Z-relevant, sustainable brand, which is a great addition to our "free to be you" company culture," says Andrew Clarke, CEO of francesca's® Acquisition LLC. "Creating this new cooperative of synergistic brands allows us to benefit from a diverse bench strength of expertise, while setting up the whole for greater reach into our target markets. This will deliver increased operational efficiencies, accelerate our omni-channel capabilities and open new revenue streams. We are especially grateful to our vendor partners, landlords and lenders who continue to proactively support our Company and the initiatives we are pursuing as a management team."

Richer Poorer's purpose is "making the world a more comfortable place" by delivering thoughtful, elevated wardrobe essentials for modern life, made with the highest-quality, sustainable materials at attainable price points. Focused categories include sweats, tees and tanks, intimates, dresses and loungewear and styles have been seen on celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Suki Waterhouse, Jessica Alba and more. The brand will continue its existing efforts in wholesale and DTC channels this year, with a full re-launch in 2024. Iva Pawling, the CEO and Co-Founder, will continue to lead the brand in her new expanded role as President of Richer Poorer, franki, and Wholesale.

"I am thrilled to see Richer Poorer and our team combine forces with two successful, female-focused brands, francesca's and franki by francesca's," says Iva Pawling, CEO and Co-Founder of Richer Poorer. "We share the same entrepreneurial spirit and couldn't be more optimistic at the growth opportunity ahead for all three brands through this expansion effort."

The transaction was completed in partnership with Tiger Capital and financed by Bank of America. francesca's® Acquisition LLC is owned by private equity firm TerraMar Capital LLC.

"The shifting DTC landscape has required strong start-up brands like Richer Poorer to seek new means of capital and growth," says Ryan Davis, Executive Managing Director, Tiger Capital. "As proven brand-builders, the teams at francesca's and TerraMar are ideally positioned to take the brand to the next level."

"Completing this acquisition is a meaningful step in the value creation plan for francesca's that was established in 2021 when we acquired the business," commented Joshua Phillips, Managing Partner of TerraMar Capital, LLC. "We look forward to continuing to evaluate other potential acquisitions in the space and working with Andrew and the francesca's management team to continue the work towards building the francesca's platform to recognize its full potential."

To learn more about francesca's®, franki by francesca's® and Richer Poorer, visit francescas.com, francescas.com/category/franki-for-girls, and richer-poorer.com.

About francesca's®
francesca's® is a specialty retailer which operates a nationwide chain of francesca's® and franki by francesca's® boutiques providing customers a unique, fun and personalized shopping experience. The merchandise assortment is a diverse and balanced mix of apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts. francesca's® also oversees operations of Richer Poorer, a California-based wardrobe essentials brand that delivers elevated sweats, tees, tanks, and more made with the highest-quality and sustainable materials. Today, francesca's® operates approximately 454 boutiques in 45 states and also serves its customers online. For additional information on francesca's®, please visit www.francescas.com, francescas.com/category/franki-for-girls, and richer-poorer.com.

Contact: [email protected]

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