Title Nine is opening two stores in the Chicago market, its first stores in the Midwest. According to the Chicago Tribune, the first will open by the close of August in downtown Evanston and the second in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in October. The openings will bring the 21-year-old women's activewear direct mail and retailer's store count to 18 nationwide.
Title Nine, based in Emeryville, CA, still distributes more than 30 million catalogs a year but has been slowly building its store base. Until recently, its stores were focused in California, the Pacific Northwest and Colorado. Title Nine opened in Madison, WI., and Edina, MN, in the past year. It also opened a store in 2009 in Austin.
According to the Tribune, Title Nine tested the Chicago market in July 2009 through a temporary pop-up store for a week in an empty strip mall storefront in Evanston.
“We're really looking for women that have lived the lifestyle,” Estelle DeMuesy, president of Title Nine, told the Tribune. “They're making time in their life to be out in the outdoors and try new things.”
DeMuesy, formerly president at Linen Source chain and before head in charge of Delia's direct division, became Title Nine's president in 2008. Founder Missy Parks remains CEO.
Title Nine continues to be known for its commitment to proper-fitting sports bras, and its website carries more than 50 styles. The company is also launching a sub-brand called Bounce, a tongue-in-cheek label trading on its expertise in sports bra construction.
It now has six stores in California (Berkeley, La Jolla, Los Gatos, Mill Valley, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek); three in Colorado (Boulder, Colorado Springs and Cherry Creek); and two in Washington, (Bellevue and Seattle). Other stores are located in Boise, ID; Edina, MN; Portland, OR; Austin, TX; and Madison, WI.
