Gadzooks (retailer)

This article is about the defunct clothing retailer. For other uses, see Gadzooks.

Gadzooks, Inc. was a mall-based teenage clothing retailer.^[1] It was acquired by Forever 21 in 2005 and then shut down. Gadzooks stores had a life-size version of part of a Volkswagen Beetle inside.^[2] Dozens of the cars were sawed in half for use as displays throughout its locations during the 1990s.^[3]

Gadzooks, Inc.

Commonly used logo
A Gadzooks store reconstructed for the set of R. L. Stine's Fear Street at the North DeKalb Mall in Atlanta
Founded	1983; 42 years ago (1983)
Founder	Jerry Szczepanski Larry Titus
Defunct	March 17, 2005; 20 years ago (2005-03-17)
Fate	Acquired by Forever 21 and shut down
Headquarters	Carrollton, Texas

History

The company was founded in 1983 as a T-shirt business^[4] by brothers-in-law Jerry Szczepanski and Larry Titus, and inspired by the shopping habits of Szczepanski's teenage sons.^[5] The first store was in Mesquite, Texas.^[6] In order to fill floorspace, the founders displayed an "old, white Volks-wagen bug" in the store.

By 1992, the company had 33 stores in Texas.^[6] In 1995, the company became a public company via an initial public offering and within three months, the share price quadrupled from $15 to $61.^[6] That year the company had 195 stores.^[7] In 2000, the company operated 330 Gadzooks in 35 states.^[8]

In 2003, in response to heightened competition, the company retooled, shifting from being a "mini-department store", and dropping its male clothing line,^[5] to focus exclusively on 16- to 22-year-old females,^[9] which proved a fatal shift in its viability.^[1] Gadzooks was one of the first national retail chains to adopt the teenage shopper as its target market.^[5]

In February 2004, the company filed bankruptcy and announced plans to reduce its store count from 410 to 252.^[10] In March 2005, Forever 21 purchased the chain^[11][12] for $33 million.^[11][13] The stores were eventually phased out.^[4]