Like many mall brands in recent years, Pacsun has found its way back into the good graces of consumers.
In part, nostalgia and social media are to thank for the brand’s resurgence. But, according to CEO Brieane Olson, over the last 24 months, the brand has implemented an aggressive, calculated growth strategy to chart its path toward profitability.
Based on the demands of Pacsun’s customers, “we’re shifting to become a purpose-driven brand,” Olson said regarding the strategy. Olson, who spoke with Glossy at NRF Retail’s Big Show this week, has been with the company for nearly 20 years.
Recentering on purpose has translated to innovating in the digital space through social commerce, creating relevant partnerships and building community in four key pillars: music, sports, art and fashion.
Pacsun has launched over 20 new and renewed product collaborations in the past two years. In 2022, Pacsun partnered with the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its first capsule collection. Three additional drops have since launched. That same year, the company entered a multi-year licensing partnership with Formula 1. And in 2023, Pacsun partnered with the UFC to release merch and host in-person meet-and-greets during the UFC300 in Las Vegas. Other partnerships have included collections with Paris Hilton and Selena Gomez, both released in 2024.
In February, Pacsun launched the Pacsun Collective, an initiative inviting the brand’s consumers to get involved in marketing campaigns. Creators can apply to work on the company’s seasonal marketing campaigns or to design future merchandise alongside Pacsun’s internal teams. To date, the collective has worked on Pacsun’s spring-summer 2024 campaign, released in February, and its music festival collection, in March.
In 2022, the brand surpassed $900 million in revenue and dipped to $797.8 million in 2023, according to a report by online recruitment service Zippia. Olson declined to share specific figures but said the company has experienced “notable acceleration in sales across all channels in 2023 and 2024.” Pacsun is owned by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, which also has investments in retail brands including Eddie Bauer, J.Jill, Payless and Rocket Dog.
With growth in motion, Olson said applying the brand’s four pillars to both digital and in-person experiences is the next phase in Pacsun’s journey.
“[Digital and in-person] experiences fuel our growth in meaningful ways,” said Olson. “The overall growth story will be powered by customer affinity, first and foremost. Then, experiential will be important across the board, whether that’s through livestream selling or new store experiences.”
Pacsun is equally focused on expanding its retail and digital footprints this year.
In 2022, Pacsun launched on Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese counterpart under parent company ByteDance. On the app, Pacsun has been fine-tuning its live-selling strategy and seeing impactful results. Previous reports reveal that the brand generated $17 million in gross merchandise volume on the platform in 2023, with 80% of that coming from its livestreams.
Moving forward, the company is applying its learnings from Douyin to social commerce initiatives in the U.S., with its sights on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, pending its fate in the U.S.
Simultaneously, Pacsun plans to rapidly open more physical stores over the next three years. This year, Pacsun will open 15-20 doors in the U.S., followed by another 25 in 2026 and even more in 2027, when it also plans to open its first international location. Currently, Pacsun has over 300 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
In stores, surprising and delighting shoppers is the strategy that keeps consumers returning, Olson said. ‘We’re focused on selecting products that [shoppers] can’t find at other places. Plus, we’re [prioritizing] special brand partnerships that speak to our values and layering in experiences when they make sense,” she said.
By focusing on the four pillars, Pacsun is poised to experience explosive growth, Olson said. “We’ve got some exciting partnerships and an online community platform in the pipeline that will tie in all of [Pacsun’s] programming [and initiatives] together. I’m looking forward to our future.”