Chico’s meets 10 ESG goals

Chico’s FAS Inc. has achieved desired results in 10 different environmental, social and governance areas, and is setting seven more new ESG goals.

The specialty fashion retailer has issued its 2021 Impact Report. The report includes 2021 highlights in areas such as inclusion and diversity, supply chain responsibility, sustainable innovations and operations, among others.

In 2021, Chico’s says it met the following 10 short-term equity and sustainability goals:

• Disclose the scope of its corporate business waste management program.
• Update its human rights policy to reflect a training element \.
• Enhance disclosures in its vendor onboarding requirements to discuss how it screens new suppliers for environmental performance, labor practices and human rights performance.
• Update the company’s code of ethics to indicate that it applies the same workforce policy standards to its suppliers and vendors.
• Update the company’s global vendor code of conduct to address supply chain audits for environmental management.
• Update public reporting to align with internationally recognized reporting frameworks.
• Form and disclose the existence of a dedicated board-level ESG Committee.
• Update the company’s human rights policy to reflect a commitment to stakeholder involvement in the development and implementation and the evaluation of effective outcomes of the policy.
• Update the company’s publicly disclosed information to include a statement on Chico’s position on the use of corporate funds for the purposes of political advocacy.
• Disclose activities to actively monitor and audit internal compliance with the company’s code of ethics.

Chico’s also released seven new mid-term equity and sustainability goals:

• Explore and quantify value-added sustainable packaging opportunities to reduce landfill waste by having its brands align on and adopt at least one new sustainable packaging opportunity per year over the next three years.
• Analyze, disclose and engage with its Tier 11 factories on their total water consumption, energy use and waste output and identify opportunities to reduce their impact by at least 1% per year over the next three calendar years.
• Introduce two to three fabrics, innovations, technologies or other efficiencies in product design, development and manufacturing every year over the next three years to reduce its environmental footprint.
• Develop expanded product assortments using customer and associate input to create solutions that give comfort and joy to women of all shapes, colors and sizes.
• Implement Higg Index2 sustainability reporting for the top 80% of Tier 1 vendors and factories.
• Enhance the racial and ethnic diversity of its workforce by focusing on recruiting and retention efforts.
• Promote ESG reporting that aligns with stakeholder expectations and regulatory disclosure recommendations.

To read Chico's FAS' 2021 Impact Report, visit esg.chicosfas.com.

[Read more: Chico’s targets total revenue of $2.5 billion-plus by 2025]

"Chico's has always strived for continuous improvement in creating ESG impact through customer-centric innovation," said Molly Langenstein, Chico's FAS president and CEO. "As we continue to evolve as a company led by women and for women, our customers and employees remain at the forefront of everything we do. Chico's ESG program is designed to enhance the interests of all our stakeholders and create long-term value by linking Chico's ESG commitment through the lens of our four strategic pillars: Customer Led, Product Obsessed, Digital First and Operationally Excellent."

"We are proud to launch our 2021 Impact Report that showcases the progress we made advancing our ESG commitments," added Kim Roy, independent Board member and ESG committee chair. "This report provides our stakeholders with greater transparency of our progress against our long-term ESG strategy, and is the culmination of a cross-functional effort overseen by the Board to identify our material ESG issues and develop a framework to address them with accountability and transparency. I am particularly proud of the completion of 10 short-term ESG goals and the creation of seven mid-term ESG goals aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to drive us forward over the next three years."

Chico's FAS Inc. is a Florida-based fashion company founded in 1983 on Sanibel Island, Fla. and the parent of three brands – Chico's, White House Black Market, and Soma. As of July 30, 2022, the company operated 1,258 stores in the U.S. and sold merchandise through 58 international franchise locations in Mexico and 2 domestic franchise airport locations.