Teen retailer rue21 has hired former Brookstone General Counsel Stephen Gould as GC, one of a series of moves by the once-troubled chain to position itself for growth in a post-COVID world.

Stephen Gould, general counsel of Rue21. (Courtesy photo)

Gould was most recently a partner at Cook, Little Rosenblatt & Manson in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he had advised in-house departments. He took that role in January 2020 after departing Brookstone, which had shrunk dramatically following its August 2019 bankruptcy.

rue21 went through its own bankruptcy in May 2017 that reduced its the chain to about 750 stores, down 420 from before its filing.