Total sales are sliding while online continues to grow at a double-digit clip for The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.
Department store chain Bon-Ton, No. 171 in the just-released Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, reported an overall sales decline of 9.3% during its fiscal first quarter of 2017 ended April 29. CEO Kathy Bufano told analysts on the retail chain’s conference call that e-commerce sales grew by double digits year over year during the quarter, while total mobile sales were up in the mid-double digits. She declined to specify the numbers.
“We’re working on a lot of components to enhance our digital business, one of which is search in terms of [enhancing site] search capability that will be completed by the time we go into fall,” she said on the call, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. Bon-Ton, whose stores include Bon-Ton, Carson’s, Bergner’s, Herberger’s and Boston Stores, also is working to improve its mobile shopping functionality, she said, although she did not detail those efforts.
Bon-Ton last week announced that Bufano will not renew her contract and will be leave the retailer Aug. 25. She has been CEO since August 2014. Succeeding her will be chief operating officer Bill Tracy. Tracy joined Bon-Ton in July 2015 from Hudson’s Bay Co. (No. 81), where he had most recently been executive vice president of supply chain, logistics and omnichannel fulfillment.
“Going forward we will be focused on several initiatives to drive customer conversion which we believe will lead to improved performance beginning in the second half of the year,” Tracy said on the call. “We will further elevate our omnichannel positioning, making it easier for [the customer] to shop Bon-Ton wherever she wants and driving improved conversion and increased inventory efficiency.”
For the first quarter ended April 29, Bon-Ton reported:
- Net sales of $536.1 million, down 9.3% from $591.0 million during the same time last year.
- A year-over-year comparable-store sales decline of 8.8%.
- A net loss of $57.3 million, compared with a net loss of $37.8 million.