Universal Store has opened FY27 with 9.3% growth in direct-to-customer sales, led by a sharp lift from Perfect Stranger. The retailer is maintaining its plan for 16 to 20 new stores despite continued weakness in CTC’s wholesale channel.
- FY27 year-to-date direct-to-customer sales up 9.3%
- Perfect Stranger total sales rise 36.8%
- Universal Store like-for-like sales increase 2.8%
- 16 to 20 new stores remain planned for FY27
- CTC wholesale and online sales remain under pressure
Perfect Stranger leads Universal Store’s FY27 opening
Universal Store Holdings Limited (ASX:UNI) has started FY27 with 9.3% growth in direct-to-customer sales, giving the youth-fashion retailer enough momentum to keep expanding its store network into the crucial peak trading period.
The first 17 weeks, measured to 25 October, produced the strongest performance from Perfect Stranger. Its total sales rose 36.8%, with like-for-like sales up 11.6%. Universal Store delivered 6.6% total sales growth and 2.8% like-for-like growth, while CTC’s direct-to-customer sales increased 2.9% but slipped 0.7% on a like-for-like basis.
The result builds on the strong FY26 financial results, when group revenue reached $376.1 million and underlying net profit rose 16.3% to $40.5 million. Perfect Stranger’s growth is also improving the group’s gross-margin mix, although the company did not provide a margin percentage for the FY27 period.
Store rollout remains central to the growth plan
Universal Store has opened five stores so far in FY27, comprising three Universal Store locations, one Perfect Stranger site and one THRILLS store. Seven more are scheduled to open before Christmas, while one Universal Store location that was temporarily closed during FY26 is due to reopen in November.
That keeps the group on track for its previous target of 16 to 20 new stores during FY27. Management said it remains cautious on new-store and renewal leases, with 19 holdover leases currently under negotiation. The company also said nearby Universal Store locations had seen little to no discernible cannibalisation from the Perfect Stranger rollout.
CTC wholesale weakness remains the main blemish
Cheap Thrills Cycles remains the weak point in the portfolio. Its in-store like-for-like sales grew 4.1%, but online sales fell 8.8%, while the wholesale channel continues to contend with discontinued US exports and the closure of several key retail accounts late in FY26. Wholesale represents about 4% of group sales after intercompany eliminations.
The group has aligned CTC’s marketing and digital reporting lines with the Universal Store team to pursue operational improvements. The move follows the CTC asset impairment disclosed in the prior financial year, when wholesale pressure led to a further reduction in the carrying value of CTC-related assets.
Systems investment and leadership change move into focus
Universal Store said its new point-of-sale system was implemented successfully in the first quarter. A new warehouse management system is planned for FY27, but will be introduced after the peak trading period. The group said a favourable effective Australian dollar-US dollar exchange rate is currently offsetting higher transport costs, while wage inflation remains a cost consideration.
The trading update lands as Alice Barbery prepares to retire as group managing director and chief executive officer on 31 October. George Do, who has led the Universal Store and Perfect Stranger banners for the past 17 months, is due to take over from 1 November. Barbery is scheduled to join the board as a non-executive director in February 2027 and remain on the CTC advisory board.
The immediate test is whether the early sales momentum survives the holiday period without heavier discounting, particularly as CTC wholesale remains unsettled. The seven planned store openings, the warehouse-system rollout and the handover to Do will provide the next practical checkpoints for a strategy still built around expansion.
Bottom Line?
Universal Store enters peak trading with positive like-for-like growth, but the expansion case still depends on Perfect Stranger’s momentum outweighing unresolved CTC wholesale and online weakness.
Questions in the middle?
- Can Perfect Stranger sustain double-digit like-for-like growth as its store network expands nationally?
- Will CTC’s wholesale weakness stabilise before it creates further pressure on group earnings or asset values?
- How will the CEO transition affect store rollout, systems investment and execution through the peak trading period?