Gadzooks - 
now with 377 stores in 37 states
plans to open 50-60 stores in 2001  

 

   

Services
Retail (Apparel)
NASD: GADZ  

Gadzooks, Inc.

4121 International Parkway
Carrollton, TX. 75007

   

   Gerald R. Szczepanski
President and
Chief Executive Officer  

Interview conducted by:
Walter Banks, Co-Publisher

CEOCFOinteriviews.com
February 2001

BIO OF CEO

Jerry Szczepanski is one of the two original founders of Gadzooks Inc.  He has served as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer since its inception in 1983.  Prior to Gadzooks, he spent 7 years as executive vice-president of T-Shirts Plus, a 350-store, $50 million t-shirt retailer.  Prior to that, he was operations manager for 7 years at Johnson Wax.  Mr. Szczepanski is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and holds a BS in Mathematics and Physics, and an MBA from Marquette University. 

About Gadzooks, Inc.

Gadzooks, Inc. is a high-energy specialty retailer of casual clothing and accessories for teenagers. Dallas-based Gadzooks, has a 207,000-square foot facility in the Dallas area which provides distribution support for all stores. The stores provide an upbeat, entertaining environment designed to make teenagers feel comfortable when shopping.

Gadzooks bases its retailing concept on fulfilling the changing wants and needs of teenagers -- a dynamic demographic group. Today, the number of teenagers is growing at about twice the rate of the overall population. Within five years, teenagers are projected to number about 34 million in the United States. Their spending power is as impressive as their demographic impact, with direct spending in excess of $120 billion and an even greater influence over family spending. What’s more, teenagers spend more on clothing purchases than any other category (including entertainment and food).

Each Gadzooks store offers a broad selection of merchandise from the following five categories: young men’s apparel, junior apparel (for young women), unisex tee shirts, accessories and footwear. The stores operate in what can become a quickly changing environment for teen fashions. As a result, Gadzooks expends considerable effort in keeping up with the needs of its target customers and managing its merchandise mix to meet those needs. The Company regularly participates in focus group activities to stay in touch with its customers.

The Gadzooks’ store model works well in major metropolitan markets, such as Chicago and Atlanta, as well as middle markets like Green Bay, Wisconsin and Longview, Texas.  As of January 29, 2000, the Company’s average store size was approximately 2300 square feet. In fiscal 2000, the Company’s new stores will average about 2700 square feet.

CEOCFOinterviews - Mr.Szczepanski, can you give us a little history of Gadzooks and possibly - where you expect to be three years from now? -

Mr.Szczepanski – “Sure. Historically we are in our eighteenth year. We started in Dallas, Texas in l983 with one store and built our chain slowly for the first six-seven years. In l995 we did a public offering and we have been growing rapidly since. We now have 377 stores in 37 states and are planning on opening 50-60 stores this year. We are currently in every area of the country except the Pacific Northwest and California and we plan to start to go to those areas next year.  We will be entering the Seattle market in June; we will start up there and we will be working the west coast at the end of this year.”

CEOCFOinterviews - Are your storefronts franchises or owned by Gadzooks?

To receive a complete copy of this interview call: 570-839-0236