Who Owns Tillys?

Hezy Shaked and Tilly Levine opened the first store in Los Alamitos, California, in 1982, a small shop selling jeans and surf-adjacent apparel in Orange County. The name came from Tilly Levine's nickname, and the concept was simple: stock the brands Southern California teenagers actually wore.

The chain grew slowly and deliberately through the 1980s and 1990s, expanding across California malls as surf and skate fashion moved from niche to mainstream. By the 2000s it had become a regional power selling brands like Billabong, Hurley, Volcom, and Vans to a loyal teen base, later adding streetwear and fast-fashion labels as tastes shifted.

The company went public on the NYSE in May 2012, and the IPO funded a national push: Tillys expanded from a West Coast chain to hundreds of stores across more than 30 states. Growth peaked and then contracted as mall traffic declined; the store count fell from a high near 270 to 223 by January 2026 through a deliberate program of closing underperforming locations.

Leadership transitioned in recent years: co-founder Hezy Shaked stepped back from the CEO role, and after interim arrangements Nate Smith became chief executive. Fiscal 2025, ended January 31, 2026, produced $553.6 million in net sales, down 2.8 percent, with improving comparable sales late in the year and management projecting a path back to annual profitability in fiscal 2026.