The Kitchen Collection to close all stores

Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co. is winding down the retail operations of its specialty kitchenware subsidiary.  

The maker of household appliances said that it will close all 160 of its Kitchen Collection stores by the end of the year. Sales at the stores, which are located primarily in outlet malls, will start in the next few days and continue through the holiday selling season. 

The Kitchen Collection has been struggling amid declining brick-and-mortar sales and traffic. It closed some underperforming stores in an effort to support longer-term profitability, but the results have been mixed. Operating losses have moderated in the first half of 2019 compared to the year-ago period, but same-store sales continue to decline as a result of declining foot traffic due to the consumer shift to e-commerce sales, the company said.

“Despite our best efforts to return Kitchen Collection to profitability through footprint consolidation, further deterioration in foot traffic has lowered our outlook for the prospects of a future return to profitability and positive cash flow generation,” said  Gregory H. Trepp, president and CEO of Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co. “We have evaluated strategic alternatives to maximize the value of the Kitchen Collection business and reached the difficult but necessary decision that it is in the best interests of the company and all of its stakeholders to wind down the business by the end of 2019.”

Conway MacKenzie is serving as financial advisor and Hilco Merchant Resources will assist management during the sale process of Kitchen Collection inventory and store fixtures.