Report: Zale cancels some orders with suppliers

Irving, Texas Zale Corp. has cancelled some orders with suppliers, the Wall Street Journal reported.

However, CFO Matt Appel told the publication that the jeweler has cash on hand to pay suppliers.

"Barring something catastrophic, we will pay our bills," he said.

Unnamed diamond suppliers cited by the Journal had said Zale had refused to accept tens of million of dollars of inventory at the end of November and was stretching payments.

In November, Zale said same-store sales fell 18.6% that month, compared with the year earlier period.

The chain has been shutting stores and liquidating some inventory in the past year to combat sharply weaker sales brought about by the recession.