Elevated basics brand Richer Poorer has traded hands once again as it continues to look for a well-capitalized parent that can aid its stalled growth.
This week’s sale of Richer Poorer to direct-to-consumer swim brand Andie is the latest ownership shuffle for the San Marcos, Calif.-based company after being bought by accessories retailer Francesca’s in 2023.
Financial terms of the sale to Andie were not disclosed.
Richer Poorer and Andie are now cross-selling each other’s merchandise in their respective online shops. The deal is also expected to leverage efficiencies on the back end for both businesses.
For Andie, Richer Poorer expands its category base overnight, while Richer Poorer gets stability and gains the possibility of ownership that could move the needle in its own growth trajectory.
Andie founder and CEO Melanie Travis said she’s been a fan of the brand and seized on the opportunity to buy it, saying “it immediately clicked.”
“This isn’t about restructuring—it’s about scaling,” Travis said.
The CEO told Business of Fashion, Fifteen-year-old Richer Poorer is generating about $10 million in sales with Andie’s annual sales totaling $50 million. The goal, she told the fashion publication, is to grow companywide sales to $100 million over the next three to five years. Although, it’s unclear what the strategy will be beyond the cross-selling and whether the two businesses would lean more heavily on wholesale partners to reach that target.
As the initial wave of direct-to-consumer brands grow up, they’re caught in a tightening marketplace facing the impact of tariffs, stiff competition and high digital acquisition costs. While those brands have highly engaged audiences, their own niche consumer bases have in some ways proven barriers to further scale.
Owner Musical Chairs
Francesca’s Acquisition LLC bought Richer Poorer in hopes of quickly scaling its branded portfolio with a name relevant among younger consumers.
The deal added Richer Poorer to a portfolio that included Francesca’s namesake business, in addition to tween apparel and accessories division Hello Franki.
What got lost in the shuffle was Richer Poorer’s growth through its distribution within the surf channel. While it carried a basics line that was not necessarily unique, it targeted its sales through surf shops and built momentum there, while also adding national retailers such as Free People, Revolve and Nordstrom.
Ownership changes have confused its path to further scale.
Richer Poorer’s founders Iva Pawling and Tim Morse first sold the business to Shoes.com in 2015. Two years later, they bought the business back to save it from being folded into the Shoes.com flailing business, which filed for bankruptcy not long after Pawling and Morse bought it back.
The loss of key people around the ownership changes has also been a challenge.
Morse, who previously served as brand president, left Richer Poorer in December 2023, before the business was sold to Francesca’s.
Pawling and three Richer Poorer employees then came over with the deal to Francesca’s.
Last year, Pawling left the business after serving as president at Francesca’s, where she oversaw Richer Poorer, Hello Franki and the wholesale business.
She’s now chief marketing officer of her sister Gorjana Reidel’s Laguna Beach jewelry company, Gorjana.
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