R21 Holdings Inc. announced that it will open three new brick-and-mortar locations this July. The retailer -- who has experienced a business uptick since emerging from the Covid-19 shutdown outperforming every metric including sales, comparative year-over-year sales and EBITDA, plans to open three new stores in South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, bringing its store count to 673 in 45 states. Like many retailers, rue21 responded to the global pandemic in March by shuttering its stores and furloughing most staff, pausing scheduled incentive bonuses, but continuing to provide employee healthcare benefits. When some states began to reopen in May, the retailer safely opened 180 stores, electively erecting behind-the-counter "sneeze shields", installing touchless payment technology and training staff on stringent safety protocols.