fashion retailer. The multibrand retailer has scaled from a single shopfront in Brisbane’s Carindale suburb to 84 locations nationwide. It sits alongside a growing portfolio of private-label brands that are owned and operated by Universal Store Holdings, including Perfect Stranger, which has 19 stores, Thrills, which has eight locations, and Worship, which is sold on a wholesale basis.  Universal Store Holdings’ sales revenue has grown from $155 million in FY20 to $333.3 million in FY25, while its underlying EBIT has grown from $24 million to $54.6 million over the same period. “The persistent commitment to staying close to emerging customer trends, to maintaining agile and responsive product curation and supply chain, to developing inspirational retail formats and to cultivating a culture that fosters empowered and engaged team members have been the driving forces” of the company’s success, Universal Store Holdings’ chair, Peter Birtles, said in the group’s FY25 annual report. Unlike many of its peers, Universal Store Holdings ended FY25 in a strong financial position, with a robust net cash balance and no bank borrowings. Its ranking in the ASX300 suggests its mix of a multibrand retail and private label model is proving successful. A bet on private labels Universal Store Holdings’ core demographic is 16 to 35-year-old fashion-conscious customers, whom it targets through its portfolio of premium youth fashion retail formats. While the company is still assessing the longer‑term potential of its Perfect Stranger and Thrills retail formats, the brands have shown remarkable growth potential. Perfect Stranger’s sales grew 83.1 per cent, reaching $25.5 million in sales in FY25. Meanwhile, Thrills reached $40.1 million in sales in FY25, a 9.8 per cent fall year-on-year. The company attributed this decline to a shift in its wholesale channel but is pivoting by placing a greater focus on its direct-to-consumer channels. “The Thrills brand maintains broad consumer appeal, evidenced by its DTC growth and continued performance in our Universal Store retail format,” Barbery explained. “The emerging ‘Worship’ brand surpassed expectations – sales up 91per cent in FY24 – resonating with both male and female consumers and expanding to include a wider denim offering,” she added. Outside of the Perfect Stranger, Thrills and Worship brands, Universal Store Holdings has several own labels it stocks, including Neovision, which contributed to 10 per cent of total sales, as well as Common Need and Luck & Trouble. Showing up in person Universal Store Holdings continues to evolve the design of its stores across all three of its retail banners, ensuring each has a distinctive feel. Perfect Stranger stores are designed to offer a premium shopping experience, while Universal Store is trialling new design concepts with a focus on improving merchandising and experience. Thrills is trying to highlight its Byron Bay heritage. Universal Store Holdings is looking to add 11 to 17 new stores before the end of FY26, an increase from the five to 10 stores it usually opens each year. From Barbery’s perspective, just because the company’s Gen Z and millennial customers are chronically online doesn’t mean that’s where they want to check out. “The youth fashion customer remains discerning and willing to spend on quality, on-trend clothing,” Barbery said. “They prefer to touch and feel before buying and they’re not great at planning ahead so if they need an outfit for Saturday night, they buy it on Saturday morning,” she added. The company’s steady bricks-and-mortar expansion has allowed it to reach the large and fragmented youth casual apparel segment.