Alice Barbery is closing out the chapter that turned Universal Store from a three-person office into an ASX-listed fashion group with 128 stores. Successor George Do now takes the reins as the consumer market cools.
Barbery is finishing up as group CEO and managing director of Universal Store Holdings this week. In a LinkedIn post, she described the move as graduating rather than retiring.
She recalled the early days, when the business operated out of a single room with three staff and used a store stock room as its distribution centre. Barbery led the management buyout of the business in 2018 and took it to the ASX in 2020. Under her watch, the group also launched Perfect Stranger and acquired Cheap Thrills Co, owner of Thrills and Worship.
“When I look back, I feel incredibly proud of what we have built,” Barbery said.
“To the team at Perfect Stranger, Universal Store and Thrills – thank you. Your commitment and belief in what we do and the way we do it has made this so special.”
Barbery will rejoin the board as a non-executive director from February 1, 2027. She will also provide consulting support on the Cheap Thrills Co business and sit on its advisory board.
George Do steps up to group CEO on November 1. He joined Universal Store on the shop floor in 2005, became head of product in 2011 and established its private brand department. He has led the Universal Store and Perfect Stranger banners since March 2025.
“There is no one better I could have wished for to take this team to new heights,” Barbery said.
Do inherits a business where growth is slowing as the market struggles against elevated interest rates and high inflation. Group direct-to-customer sales rose 9.3 per cent in the 17 weeks to October 25, down from 13.7 per cent at the same point last year.
Investment bank UBS noted like-for-like growth eased across all three brands in the back half of that period. Perfect Stranger slowed most sharply, from 17.6 per cent in the first seven weeks to 7.5 per cent over the following 10.
The broker remains confident in the group’s sales outlook, citing three factors. These are the comparative resilience of its socialising, fashion-conscious 16- to 35-year-old customer, as well as strong merchant execution, and a significant store rollout opportunity across its brands. The group is on track to open 16 to 20 new stores this financial year.
UBS also flagged pressure on earnings margins. Higher depreciation from new stores and continued investment in team capability are expected to weigh, alongside an inflationary cost environment driven by award and junior wage rate increases. It still retained its buy rating on the stock.
Jarden and Macquarie have also retained their buy ratings on Universal Store stock.
Jarden described the group’s latest update as a touch softer than expected, and reasoned that macroeconomic pressures such as rising rents and fuel prices are starting to bite for the group’s customers.
Even so, the broker believes enough factors sit within the group’s control to drive outperformance. It pointed to years of store rollout runway left at Universal Store, and longer at Perfect Stranger, as well as market share gains as competitors downsize or exit, and a relatively variable cost base.
Jarden noted that the Thrills slowdown came from online, which it attributed to execution, while Thrills stores traded strongly. It kept its overweight rating.
Macquarie also pointed out the recent slowdown, but added that positive like-for-like growth at Universal Store and Perfect Stranger helped the group avoid cost deleverage. The broker also suggested that the growing pull of Black Friday promotions, and the event-driven nature of Perfect Stranger demand, may be shifting spending away from spring and into the summer events period.
Macquarie remains constructive on Do’s strategy of aggressive store rollout. It reasoned that the strategy lets the group capitalise on available locations and contestable market share left by recent competitor closures, such as Glue.
The broker acknowledged a higher risk profile this financial year, given the large store rollout, rising operating costs and the CEO transition. However, it noted the group’s net cash position of around $23 million, its gross margin tailwinds from currency and Perfect Stranger’s growth, and its inventory-light model. Macquarie retained its outperform rating.
Barbery, meanwhile, said she is looking forward to her first full Christmas off in years, and left the team with a final instruction to go and break every record the group has set.