PVH Closing 162 Outlets, Firing 450 Staff

PVH announced it was closing its 162 Heritage Brands outlets and well as firing about 450 people, or 12% of its North American “office workforce.”

“The North America office workforce reductions are across all three brand businesses and corporate functions and are expected to result in annual cost savings of approximately $80 million. The Heritage Brands Retail stores are expected to operate through mid-2021,” announced the company.

Stated chairman and CEO Manny Chirico, “the structural changes occurring in the North American retail landscape have required us to take a hard look at our North American operations and identify where we can optimize costs across our business model. As a result, we are making the incredibly difficult decisions to close our Heritage Brands Retail business and eliminate a significant number of positions throughout our North American organization to align with the lower revenue base. We did not take these decisions lightly, as our Heritage Brands Retail business is our oldest retail business yet no longer met appropriate return metrics. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of our impacted associates for their support, loyalty and contributions over the years.”

PVH added it “expects to incur pre-tax charges of approximately $80 million over the next 12 months in connection with these actions, of which approximately $10 million is expected to be noncash. The remaining cash outflows are expected to occur over the next 12 months. The charges primarily consist of severance, lease termination costs, inventory markdowns and noncash asset impairments.”