Tilly’s

Tilly’s is a U.S. specialty retailer that sells casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for teens and young adults through a combination of physical stores and a nationwide e-commerce platform. The brand leans into skate, surf, street, and active lifestyle culture, which keeps its stores relevant to style-focused youth and young families in busy retail settings.

The company began in 1982, when co-founders Hezy Shaked and Tilly Levine opened the first store in Southern California and spent the following decade building out a regional presence across the state. A notable turning point came in 2005, when a private equity investment helped accelerate growth beyond California, followed by a 2012 initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker TLYS that provided additional capital and visibility as the chain expanded nationally.

As of November 2025, Tilly’s operates about 230 stores across 33 states, supported by its online business. The stores are typically mid-size boxes in enclosed malls, lifestyle centers, and open-air power centers, giving landlords and developers a flexible inline or junior-anchor option that brings youth traffic to fashion corridors and family-oriented projects.

Over roughly the last five years, Tilly’s has shifted from aggressive store growth to active management of its fleet, closing underperforming locations while maintaining a substantial national footprint. The company has emphasized selective new store openings and a disciplined approach to lease renewals, using e-commerce demand patterns and in-store productivity to decide where to backfill space, where to resize, and where to exit, which results in a more curated presence in high-performing trade areas.

Financially, Tilly’s generates several hundred million dollars in annual net sales, with fiscal 2024 revenue in the mid-$600 million range despite a softer teen apparel environment. In recent years the company has responded to inflation and labor cost pressures with tighter inventory control and targeted closures, signaling that it remains committed to physical retail but prefers measured, performance-driven commitments rather than outsized square footage growth.

For owners and brokers, Tilly’s brings a recognizable youth-focused brand with a track record of drawing repeat visits from teens and young families through multi-brand assortments and omnichannel fulfillment, including buy-online-pickup-in-store and ship-from-store activity. Its status as a public company, ongoing quarterly reporting, and continued investment in both stores and digital infrastructure give real estate partners clearer visibility into the chain’s health, future pacing, and staying power in regional and super-regional retail centers.