E-commerce growth partially offsets sales decline at Christopher & Banks

Christopher & Banks Corp. swung to a net loss in Q3 fiscal 2020.

The specialty women’s apparel retailer reported a net loss of $10.8 million, or $0.29 per share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2020. This compares to a net income of $500,000, or $0.01 per share, in the same prior-year period.

Net sales declined year-over-year 23% to $72.8 million compared to $94.1 million due to lower sales in retail stores. This decrease was partially offset by 32.4% growth in Christopher & Banks’ e-commerce business.

Based on its own retail traffic trends, the retailer believes customers remain hesitant to shop in stores. Quarter-to-date, these trends have remained consistent with its third-quarter performance. As a result of the expectation that COVID-19 will continue to negatively impact sales over the next several months, Christopher & Banks is engaging external advisors, including an investment banker, as it works to refinance debt and explore other strategic alternatives.

“While we saw sequential improvement in our sales trends in the third quarter, results did not meet our expectations,” said Keri Jones, president and CEO, Christopher & Banks. “We have not seen the level of sales recovery that we had anticipated. We believe that COVID-19 has had an outsized impact on our customer demographic as her shopping behavior is more pragmatic with limited demand for new outfits in the absence of social engagements.”

Due to the continued uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic, Christopher Banks is not providing guidance for fiscal 2020 at this time.