The board has created a new position of president of Zale North America and appointed the former president of Zale Canada, John A. Zimmermann, to the position. In that role, he will have responsibility for merchandising and store operations of Zales Jewelers, Peoples Jewellers and Mappins Jewellers.
Zale is in the midst of seeking a new CEO, according to interim CEO Betsy Burton, and the process is expected to take three to six months she said during the company's recent earnings conference call.
Zale execs said earnings for its second fiscal quarter, which ended Jan. 31, were $88 million, or $1.78 a share, down from $99 million, or $1.91 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Burton attributed the poor performance to the Zales brand and indicated that efforts to rebrand Zales for higher-income customers were not successful. Moreover, she said that the strategy was leading the Zales brand in the wrong direction.
Total revenues for the second quarter were $994 million compared to last year's revenues of $972 million for the period, an increase of 2.3%. Comparable store sales increased 1.4% for the same period.Burton gave guidance for the third quarter of flat to slightly positive comparable store sales and diluted earnings per share ranging between 20 cents and 22 cents. "We still have a lot of work to do, but our execution will get better," she promised during the call.
Zale operates approximately 2,350 retail locations throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico under the brands Zales Jewelers, Zales Outlet, Gordon's Jewelers, Bailey Banks & Biddle, Peoples Jewellers, Mappins Jewellers and Piercing Pagoda.
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