here's charlie!
Charming Houston-based fashion retailer announces reopening of 3 local stores
Local fans of Houston-based Charming Charlie who’ve been mourning its sudden shutter are in luck, as the discount jewelry, baubles, and clothing mecca is set to open several Texas stores.
Charming Charlie announced on social media the opening of Houston-area stores in Baybrook, First Colony, and Willowbrook malls in March 2020. Additionally, Charming Charlie will open in Stonebriar Center in Frisco and The Parks at Arlington in Arlington. The retailer plans to open 15 stores nationally by early next year.
This comes after Charming Charlie (via Charming Charlie Holdings Inc.) filed for Chapter 11 protection in July in Delaware with plans for going-out-of-business sales at all 261 stores, while reporting some $82 million of debt. More than 3,000 full-time and part-time employees were affected by the liquidation.
Charming Charlie founder Charlie Chanaratsopon, who acquired the company’s trademarks out of bankruptcy auction in September, said at the time that he planned to resurrect the business as an online-heavy retailer with a handful of stores and pop-up shops in select locations nationwide, theHouston Chronicle reported. The new stores would be between 3,000 and 4,000 square feet, about half the size of its predecessors, he noted. (CultureMap has reached out to Charming Charlie representatives for comment.)
Chanaratsopon was a Houston success story, as his company — launched in 2004 — landed on Forbes “Ones to Watch” list and made Inc. Magazine’s list of “Top 5,000 Fastest Growing Businesses.” But by 2017, the company filed for bankruptcy, followed by the second filing in July. Time will tell if this new move means a shiny resurgence for the glittering store.