Retailer Roots to boost its U.S. presence by opening two new stores in Washington, D.C., area

TORONTO — Clothing retailer Roots Corp. will open two new stores in the Washington, D.C., area in August as part of its U.S. and international expansion plans.

“We believe the U.S. represents a minimum 100-store market opportunity for us,” said CEO Jim Gabel in a statement announcing the more than 270square-metre (or more than 3,000-square-foot) shops.

One store will be in Washington’s Georgetown neighbourhood, while the other location will be in Pentagon City, a mall in Arlington, Va.

The company announced in March it would also open two locations in the Greater Boston, Mass. area this summer. The four stores are part of the company’s target to open 10 to 14 new locations in America by the end of next year.

Roots operated 119 stores as of Feb. 3, according to its most recent quarterly earnings report, with three in the U.S. and the remainder in Canada. The company is also planning to open 10 more locations in Canada by the end of its 2019 financial year, hoping to add up to 25 new shops in Taiwan and China, as well as build a presence in Singapore and Malaysia in the same time frame. It had 110 partner-operated stores in Taiwan and 32 in China as of Feb. 3.

The company has been in the midst of a multi-year transformation project that started during its 2016 financial year. The culmination of the plan should see it achieve $410 million in annual sales during its 2019 financial year. Part of the plan included listing shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The October initial public offering was considered unsuccessful at the time. The initial stock price of $12 per share was $2 to $4 below the original proposed range and the stock closed at $10 on the first day of trading.