After receiving financial results of the first quarter, which ended on May 5, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), has announced that it will be closing up to 10 Lord & Taylor stores throughout 2019, which includes the iconic New York City Fifth Avenue location.
An increased focus on driving Lord & Taylor’s digital business, combined with new leadership and an optimized store footprint, is expected to reduce costs and improve the overall performance of the business.
“Throughout the last month, we have worked rapidly to put in place a leadership team focused on driving business results, streamlining our processes and fostering a culture of accountability,” said Helena Foulkes, who became HBC’s chief executive officer, four months ago. “We need to improve across all areas of the business, and this begins with rededicating ourselves to putting the customer first in everything we do. This customer-focused mindset will dictate how we think about key functions of the business, and I see opportunity to dramatically improve our marketing and digital operations while also refining the companywide processes that impact our end-to-end customer experience.”
HBC has also entered into agreements to sell Gilt, its online retail business to Rue La La.
“Results in North America were encouraging, highlighted by better performance across the group and comparable sales growth of 6 per cent at Saks,” stated Richard Baker, HBC’s governor and executive chairman. “We have significant opportunity to build on this trend, and are taking action to strengthen the foundation of the company and position HBC for profitable growth. Our decision to divest Gilt will allow us to focus our time and resources on the businesses with the greatest potential to drive operating performance, and I am confident that the retail operations are moving in the right direction under Helena’s leadership.”
Minus Gilt’s numbers, HBC’s revenue was $3,088 million, an increase of $30 million from the prior year. Overall comparable sales declined 0.7 per cent with total comparable digital sales increasing 7.7 per cent. Here are the comparable sales performances of HBC’s banners:
- Saks Fifth Avenue comparable sales increase of 6.0 per cent.
- DSG (Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor and Home Outfitters) comparable sales decrease of 0.6 per cent.
- Saks OFF 5THcomparable sales decrease of 3.5 per cent.
- HBC Europe (Galeria Kaufhof and Galeria INNO) comparable sales decrease of 6.6 per cent.
