The company will continue its shift toward off-mall base locations, replace its mall stores with off-mall units while renewing selected mall leases on a short-term basis, said Robert Alderson, Kirkland's CEO. Kirkland's opened 18 stores and closed 20 stores through the first half of the year, including opening eight stores and closing eight stores in the second quarter. The company expects to open approximately 13 stores and close one unit during the third quarter. For the full year, the company expects to open approximately 35 new stores and close 40 to 45 units.
"We're going to be very judicious about the new stores we're going to build," Alderson said. "We're committed to leaving malls. Their price structure is not conducive to our business."
The company's off-mall stores are larger, and their lower cost of operations allows for a quicker return on investment, he added.
Net sales for the quarter were $87.4 million, down 4% from the same period last year. Comparable store sales decreased 10.5%, with mall stores posting a 12.7% drop and off-mall stores an 8.5% decline. The chain posted a net loss of $6.5 million, compared with a loss of $5.6 million last year.
Kirkland's operates 347 home furnishings stores, consisting of 199 off-mall locations and 148 mall-based units.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
