Tapestry to shutter more stores on Covid-19

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Apr 12, 2020

Tapestry Inc. said on Friday that is was extending store closures in North America and Europe for an additional two weeks through April 24, in light of continued efforts to slow the transmission of Covid-19. 

While essentially all of the company’s stores in China have re-opened - across its three brands Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman - over the past weeks, Tapestry has been forced to close many other stores in the Asia-Pacific region including all stores in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and most recently, in some prefectures in Japan. 

Likewise, most of the company’s global distribution centers continue to operate, with only one in Malaysia and a third-party facility in New Jersey temporarily closed.

As previously announced, employees at closed locations will continue to receive pay and benefits over this period. The company will continue to reassess store closure decisions on a bi-weekly basis and will not reopen stores until safe to do so.

“Tapestry will continue to assess operations location by location, in accordance with the guidance of local governments and global health organizations to determine when operations can safely begin returning to business,” the fashion group said in a statement. 

The company finished 2019 with $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments. In late March, it decided to draw down $700 million from its $900 million revolving credit facility, and suspended its quarterly cash dividend beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, in an effort to bolster liquidity. 

Tapestry said it will provide an update on the operational and financial impacts of the outbreak on its global business during its third quarter fiscal 2020 conference call scheduled for April 30, 2020.

Tapestry is one of many members of the retail industry contributing to aid efforts during the pandemic. It first announced a $2 million donation to support small businesses in New York City, the home of all of its brands, and took things one step further last week with new contributions from the Coach and Kate Spade New York foundations.