Spin & Slim: Chico's customers love games

Who knew Chico's customers are big online gamers?

In a conference call with analysts recently, David Dyer, CEO and president of women's retailer Chico's FAS, says the Fort Myers-based company has been making investments in social media and it's paying off.

“The Chico's customer loves games, especially when tied to a giveaway or special offer. In fact, women over the age of 55 spend more time playing online games than males 15 to 34, kind of hard to believe, but true,” says Dyer, in a transcript posted on SeekingAlpha.com.

In the fall, the company created Spin & Slim, a game modeled on the Wheel of Fortune using Facebook in which the company gave away a pair of So Slimming pants and a $500 Chico's gift card to a winner every day. “Close to 60,000 games were played, and we received over 170,000 entries,” Dyer told analysts.

Chico's has made big advances in social media. “We currently have close to 1.3 million Facebook fans, over a 300% increase in the past year. And on YouTube, our brands' videos have been viewed over 2.2 million times,” Dyer says.