Princess Emporium |
|
retail chain |
|
🛒 |
|
founded |
1970 |
industry |
princessing supplies (?) |
areas served |
Centralia |
status |
operating |
Princess Emporium is a chain of retail stores specializing in "princessing supplies", whatever those are. Despite the oddly specific business model, Princess Emporium managed to build a successful enterprise in Centralia, probably because there are just so many princesses in this country. HavenTheUnbreakable once described the experience of shopping at Princess Emporium as "like back to school shopping, but everything's Lisa Frank".
History
The first Princess Emporium was founded in Maresville in 1970 as a way to attract princesses to the market. The chain experienced success throughout the next two decades, expanding to 48 stores within Centralia by 1999.
Failed expansion into Discordantia
In the late 1990s, Princess Emporium announced plans to expand internationally, opening stores in the neighboring nation of Discordantia. A total of 12 stores were built and ready to open in Discordantia by 2000, but their operations were ground to a halt when TsarinaMalice, dictatrix of Discordantia, saw a commercial for Princess Emporium's grand opening sales, and became enraged because she associated the title "Princess" with her rival, PrincessAlice. Malice demanded that all marketing materials and signage be recalled, destroyed, and replaced with the name "Tsarina Marketplace". The company's management complied, but the damage was done, and the newly-rebranded Tsarina Marketplace never attained success in the Discordantian market. The last four Tsarina Marketplace stores closed in March 2003.
The financial aftermath of the failed international expansion took a toll on the Princess Emporium chain, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 2006. Initially, it was announced that all stores would close, but PrincessAlice cried for 3 days over the thought of losing her favorite store, until the bankruptcy courts agreed to give Princess Emporium a couple cartoonish sacks of money to keep a few select stores in operation. Today, there are a total of 8 Princess Emporium stores left in operation, though thankfully those stores are at least profitable.