Owner of New York & Co. to close 27 stores in coming weeks; swings to Q3 loss

RTW Retailwinds is closing some stores as it continues to “actively evaluate” its store portfolio.

The apparel retailer, formerly known as New York & Co., plans to shutter a total of 27 stores during the coming weeks, including 19 New York & Company locations, four Fashion to Figure stores and four outlet stores. The news was revealed during the company’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts. RTW executives noted that 70% of the company's stores have leases with terms of two years or less and it is continuing to “actively evaluate” its real estate portfolio.

For the full fiscal year, RTW expects to have closed a total of 31 locations and opened seven New York & Company stores and two Fashion to Figure stores. (Fashion to Figure is the company’s plus-size brand.)

“We see stores as an important driver of customer acquisition and engagement, metrics that inform our holistic approach to real estate,’ CEO Greg Scott said on the call. 

RTW reported disappointing results for its third quarter, swinging to a net loss of $11.6 million, or a loss of $0.18 per diluted share, from net income of $1.7 million, or earnings of $0.03 per diluted share in the year-ago period.

Net sales fell 5% to $200.1 million from $210.8 million in the prior year, reflecting a 4.0% decrease in same-store sales, and a net reduction in store count by 14 stores from the prior year third quarter. E-commerce grew to 36% of sales from 32% last year.

"Overall, we were disappointed with our third-quarter results as softness in our store channel contributed to our sales decrease and operating loss below our expectations,” Scott said in a statement. “That said, we continue to make progress against our strategic initiatives, which include growing our multi-brand platform, driving digital growth across all brands, and implementing our Customer First initiative.”

RTW ended the third quarter with 414 stores, including 120 outlet locations.