Lucy Hits East Coast

PORTLAND, OR-Lucy, a chain of women’s active wear stores that has operated primarily in the West during its six years in business, plans to open its first East Coast store in Virginia in early October, followed by another in Washington, DC in mid-October. The expansion follows a $20 million capital infusion in July.

The first East Coast store is scheduled to open on Oct. 3 at Tysons Corner in Mclean, VA. The second is slated for Union Station in Washington, DC on Oct. 15. The new new stores will be the 19th and 20th locations for the chain.

Mike Edwards, president and CEO of Lucy, says the two new venues are opening at “signature locations,” a reference to the popularity of the shopping centers at Tysons Corner and Union Station. The new Lucy store will be part of a 350,000-sf expansion at Tysons Corner, where the Portland-based retailer will join more than 250 high-end merchants such as L.L. Bean, Kenneth Cole and Bloomingdale’s.

Founded in 1999, Lucy focuses on clothing for active women and also offers a variety of brands including Nike, Puma and Adidas, as well as hard-to-find labels like Splendid and OmGirl. The chain offers a twist on the standard sequence of old-line brick-and-mortar stores branching out into Internet sales. Lucy began as an online retailer, then added brick-and-mortar stores in 2001.

Besides expanding to the East Coast, Lucy this year ventured into new states in the West, including Colorado, where it opened its first store in the state at the Cherry Creek North outdoor shopping district.

The Lucy expansion has been fueled in part by a $20.3 million round of financing earlier this year. The company secured the funds from a group of investors including Chico’s FAS Inc., Lone Pine Capital, Maveron LLC, Oak Investment Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures.

The openings of the East Coast stores are part of a growth strategy that calls for more than a dozen new stores in 2005, including more locations in Lucy’s core West Coast markets as well as expansions into new markets. The company’s growth in the past has been funded in part by some of the same investors who contributed to the recent $20.3 million in financing. Among them are Lone Pine Capital, Oak Investment Partners, Maveron LLC and Sutter Hill Ventures.