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Nordstrom shuts stores, withdraws fiscal 2020 outlook

By Prachi Singh

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Business

To do its part to limit the spread of the virus, Nordstrom Inc. will temporarily close its stores, including Nordstrom full-line, Nordstrom Rack, Trunk Club clubhouses and Jeffrey in the U.S. and Canada for two weeks, effective March 17. Nordstrom said in a statement that it continues to serve customers through its online business, which made up one-third of sales in 2019. Keeping the uncertainty of the situation and its impact on the business in sight, the company said, it is also retracting its full year guidance issued on March 3, 2020.

“During this unprecedented period of uncertainty, we have in place the appropriate business continuity plans, operational framework and team. This, in concert with ending 2019 with a solid financial position and healthy balance sheet, gives us the ability to weather this challenging moment in time,” said Erik Nordstrom, CEO of the company.

Nordstrom withdraws guidance for 2020

The company added that its fiscal 2020 guidance issued on March 3, 2020 did not include the impact of COVID-19 and due to heightened uncertainty relating to the impacts of the situation on its business operations, Nordstrom is withdrawing its 2020 guidance.

Nordstrom had announced that for fiscal 2020, the company expected net sales to grow in the range of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent, EBIT to range between 815 million dollars to 855 million dollars, EBIT margin between 5.3 to 5.5 percent and earnings per diluted share in the range of 3.25 to 3.50 dollars.

The company further said that while February sales were in-line with expectations, it experienced a broad-based deceleration in customer demand over the past couple of weeks, particularly in markets most affected by the virus.

Photo: Nordstrom press room

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