The CEO of maternity apparel retailer Destination Maternity Corp. has stepped down on the heels of a failed merger.
Anthony Romano is out after three years at the helm of Destination Maternity, No. 401 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, replaced on an interim basis by Allen Weinstein. The move was announced in conjunction with the retailer’s fiscal second quarter earnings release.
Destination Maternity in December announced plans to merge with French children’s apparel retailer Orchestra Prémaman. That deal fell apart in July due to concerns over regulations in France and the U.S.
“While we’re disappointed that the merger was not completed, we had planned to operate Destination Maternity separately from Orchestra, so not much has changed in that regard,” chief financial officer David Stern told analysts on the retailer’s Q2 2017 earnings call on Thursday, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “I would move forward with our teams 100% focused on our turnaround.”
Destination Maternity reported online sales growth of 30.2% year over year during its fiscal second quarter ended July 29, but total sales for the period declined 7.7%. The retailer does not break out a dollar figure for online sales.
“Looking ahead, we expect to continue to drive strong web performance through the [implementation] of omnichannel initiatives, including the continued expansion of stores fulfilling e-commerce orders, offering a pick up in store option and through the implementation of shipping system enhancements, allowing more customer choice and [increasing] speed of delivery,” Stern said.
For the second quarter ended July 29, Destination Maternity reported:
- Net sales of $98.3 million, down 7.7% from $106.5 million during the same time last year.
- Comparable sales, including e-commerce, declined 3.4%, compared with a 2.7% decline.
- A net loss of $2.8 million, compared with a net loss of $2.5 million.
For the first six months of fiscal 2017, Destination Maternity reported:
- Net sales of $204.7 million, down 11.4% from $231.0 million during the same time last year.
- Comparable sales, including e-commerce, declined 5.5%, compared with a 4.2% decline.
- A net loss of $3.9 million, compared with a $1.5 million profit.