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The casual apparel wave built momentum last year and contributed greatly to the category's overall strength at mass.

Among the many retailers to capitalize on this trend was TJX, which saw all of its divisions advance significantly in terms of financial performance and store numbers. TJX added 111 stores, including 28 T.J. Maxx stores, 30 Marshalls and nine A.J. Wright locations, as well as 13 Winners, 16 HomeGoods and 15 T.K. Maxx. The company finished the year with 1,357 units overall. Among other off-pricers, Ross opened 34 Dress For Less stores during its fiscal 1999 and closed five existing locations to finish the year with 378; Stein Mart opened 27 and dosed four.

Burlington Coat Factory developed new buying priorities to give stores more consistent merchandise in presentations that offered a higher degree of lifestyle appeal. It opened 15 new stores for the fiscal year ended May 29, 1999, and closed six.

Among the specialists, Old Navy continued to grow. For its 1999 fiscal year, ended Feb. 26, 2000, the Gap operated 513 Old Navy stores with 115 opening last year. During the fiscal year, the Gap launched Old Navy Online on a promotional basis at www.oldnavy.com. The company planned to initiate cyber-sales at Old Navy Online during 2000.

Charming Shoppes acquired the 436 unit Catherine's Stores chain as well as Modern Woman, which operates a group of 136 retail stores. Charming Shoppes plans to consolidate its Modern Woman units into the Catherine's Stores operations and to run Catherine's Stores as a nationwide chain of more than 500 women's plus-size specialty apparel stores.

Juniors- and young mens-oriented Gadzooks rebounded from poor numbers in 1998 and grew to 326 from 312 stores. Comps tell the story of the '99 turnaround. In 1998, the company posted negative comparable store sales for each quarter. However, in 1999, following a same store sales decline for the first quarter, Gadzooks posted comps of 6.5%, 4.6% and 11.3% for the second, third and fourth quarters, respectively. Gadzooks also opened 19 new units and closed five stores during fiscal 1999.

The Men's Wearhouse picked up the Moore's chain in Canada in fiscal 1999, adding 113 units. Also, the company changed its concept mix by turning 10 SuitMax stores into K&G's while retaining four under the original banner as a potential growth vehicle for urban markets. It also tested and initiated plans to add new operations, including tuxedo rentals and sales of casual clothing. In the United States, the company ended the year with 450 Men's Wearhouse stores, four SuitMax units and 47 K&G locations.