Another department store retailer cuts sales outlook in wake of gloomy holiday

Hudson's Bay Co. is the latest department store retailer to report weak holiday sales.



The Canadian retailer, whose banners include Hudson’s Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, reported a 0.7% decrease in consolidated comparable sales in the nine-week holiday selling period that ended Dec. 31.



"On a constant currency basis, the comparable sales trend improved for the company overall and across every banner, led by strong digital sales growth of 21.7% at our department store banners,” stated CEO Jerry Storch. “However, the sales improvement that we experienced was not strong enough to achieve the results we had expected. While we were pleased with our performance at Hudson's Bay in Canada, the retail environment has remained challenging in the U.S. and Europe and the significant promotional activity during the holiday period had a negative impact on our margins.”



Hudson's Bay now forecast 2016 sales of C$14.4 billion-C$14.6 billion ($10.90 billion-$11.05 billion), compared with its reduced guidance of C$14.5 billion-C$14.9 billion in November.