Business is booming for Duluth-based Maurices

A new activewear line. More plus-size offerings. Integrating online and store sales. Maurices officials point to recent initiatives like these as a reason the Duluth-based women’s apparel chain continues to grow while some competitors falter.

“Innovation and testing is a theme of ours,” said Laura Sieger, Maurices’ associate vice president of communications. And the chain’s fashions are constantly being evaluated and new ideas tested and implemented, she said. Company president George Goldfarb may be partial, but a walk through Miller Hill Mall two weeks ago left him even more confident.

Since 2005, Maurices sales have grown more than 160 percent, topping $1 billion. The number of stores has doubled to more than 900 as 40 to 50 new stores open in the United States and Canada each year. Goldfarb believes Maurices could grow to more than 1,200 stores, including 100 or more in Canada. Currently there are 30. The number of employees —  which the company prefers to call “associates” — also has doubled in the past decade to about 8,700. And existing stores have been getting sleek, modern makeovers.

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