RTW Retailwinds slips into second-quarter loss; announces Uncommon Sense exit

By

Robin Driver

Published
Aug 27, 2019

New York-based womenswear retailer RTW Retailwinds announced decreased sales and a net loss of $7.5 million for the second quarter ended August 3, 2019, as well as plans to exit its recently launched Uncommon Sense lingerie lifestyle brand, in order to focus on growing its Fashion to Figure plus-size label and Happy x Nature brand, which were also launched earlier this year and have shown greater promise.
 

Indeed, while the company’s quarterly net sales totaled $201.9 million, down 6.7% from $216.4 million in the prior-year period, and comparable store sales decreased 4.8%, Retailwinds CEO Gregory Scott was keen to point out that Fashion to Figure posted positive comps in the quarter.
 
Happy x Nature, a ready-to-wear brand launched in collaboration with actress Kate Hudson, also made strong progress during the period.

The retail group’s core New York & Company brand, however, suffered from decreased traffic in its brick-and-mortar locations, despite improvements in its e-commerce channel.
 
“We responded swiftly to these challenges by reducing receipts in the second quarter,” explained Scott in a release. “As we move forward we are also addressing these challenges with a sense of urgency, beginning with our Customer First initiative launching this Fall.”
 
This initiative, which aims to transform the customer experience across RTW Retailwinds’ portfolio, will be led by the company’s recently appointed chief marketing and customer officer, Traci Inglis, who joined the retailer from TechStyle Fashion Group in June of this year.
 
The company’s net loss for the second quarter totaled $7.5 million (a loss of $0.12 per diluted share), a significant dip from the net income of $3.1 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, reported in Q2 2018.
 
Over the course of the quarter, the retailer opened three New York & Company stores and two Fashion to Figure locations, and closed one New York & Company store and one outlet store, ending the period with a total of 413 retail locations.
 
Taking the first quarter into account, RTW Retailwinds saw sales drop 7.4% from $435.2 million to $402.9 million in the first half of fiscal 2019, while net loss for the six-month period totaled $9.7 million, falling from net income of $6.2 million in the first half of 2018.
 
Looking forward to the third quarter, the company expects to see net sales decrease in the low single-digit to mid single-digit percentage range, while comparable store sales are predicted to be down in the low to mid single-digit percentage range.