Total Retail's Top 100 Fastest-Growing Retailers: Tillys Posts Sales and Operating Income Gains

Tillys is a specialty retailer in the action sports industry selling clothing, shoes and accessories. Founded in 1982 with a single store in Southern California, Tillys has grown to 225 stores in 33 states. Tillys also sells it products, primarily surf, skate, motocross and lifestyle apparel, through its e-commerce site, mobile site and app, and catalogs. (Tillys ranked No. 71 on Total Retail’s seventh annual ranking of the 100 fastest-growing retailers based on year-over-year net sales.)
2016 marked the sixth consecutive year — every year since it filed for an IPO — that Tillys has reported a year-over-year sales gain. The Irvine, Calif.-based retailer also saw its net earnings surge by more than 50 percent in 2016.
“We finished fiscal 2016 with three consecutive quarters of year-over-year operating income growth and our first annual improvement in operating income in the last five years,” stated Ed Thomas, president and chief executive officer, Tillys, in a company press release announcing its full year 2016 results. “Our strong balance sheet enabled us to reward shareholders with a $20 million special dividend in February. While we’re encouraged by these results, we will continue to seek ways to improve profitability and continue our progress during fiscal 2017.”
- People:
- Ed Thomas
- Places:
- California
- Irvine

Joe Keenan is the executive editor of Total Retail. Joe has more than 10 years experience covering the retail industry, and enjoys profiling innovative companies and people in the space.