How did a 92-year-old apparel company dedicated to women’s clothing successfully launch a tween brand in 2022?

In an interview with Women in Retail Leadership Circle (WIRLC) and Total Retail earlier this month, Laura Sieger, the senior vice president and chief marketing officer of maurices, shared a behind-the-scenes look at the launch and expansion of Evsie, maurice’s tween brand.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” she said, adding it was a fairly fast to-market strategy. “We really believed there was an opportunity and white space for the tween girl and mom, and we really verified this through market research.”

“Even listening to our own customer, one of the things we kept hearing is, ‘We need a place to shop for my daughter. I don’t know where to shop for her; I need age-appropriate clothing. I want comfortable clothing. My daughter’s got to love it as well.'”

Evsie — which comes from the phrase “Every Day, Every Girl,” leans into fun fashion that is also comfortable and age appropriate, Sieger said. Its target consumer is girls aged 7-14 who are looking for “on-trend fashions.” It offers products like dresses, tops, jeans, shoes and accessories, along with adaptive clothing whose features include softer fabrics, Velcro closures and extra wide openings.

The first Evsie store — and its e-commerce presence — launched in the spring of 2022 and now has nine standalone stores, along with 300 Evsie stores within maurices’ storefronts.

Sieger said she was surprised and wasn’t anticipating the value of the Evsie fitting rooms. Leaning into experiential retail, Evsie’s fitting rooms are bright pink and lilac, with fun mirrors and an area for girls to take selfies and post to Instagram — something Gen Zers and Gen Alphas — people born after 2010 — are interested in.

“(Generation Alpha) is a group that is growing up very passionate about inclusivity and really helping people,” she said. “That was a big core factor within our brand.”

In May, Evsie launched its brand ambassador program, aimed at empowering young girls to become confident and inspiring role models for their peers while representing the Evsie brand.

“It’s really an important age to confident self image and self confidence,” Sieger said. The ambassador program looks for representatives that value inclusivity and kindness. The company held a contest in June to select 10 girls to serve as ambassadors, and will select 10 more this month. The ambassadors get early access to product releases and are showcased in Evsie’s marketing, special events and social media.

Evsie’s marketing efforts included the use of influencers as well as empowering their store teams to spread the word locally.

“They talk to teachers, they’re out in their communities passing out coupons,” she said of the store teams. “They’re doing a lot of work to help really engage the customers.”

With an eye toward the back-to-school season, Sieger said the Evsie brand is projecting growth.

“We are seeing results right out of the gate,” she said, adding that like other retailers, Evsie is keeping a close eye on its inventory, hyper aware of the unpredictability around inventory availability.

Watch the entire interview with Sieger on demand now — along with the other interviews with retail leaders from the Virtual Exchange — at mytotalretail.com.