NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kirkland's,
Inc. (NASDAQ: KIRK) today announced it has mutually parted ways
with President and Chief Operating Officer, Michael Cairnes. Woody
Woodward, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, will add
the role of President and will oversee operations in addition to
his ongoing responsibilities across merchandising and
marketing.
The Company has promoted John
Stacy, currently Vice President of Supply Chain, to Senior
Vice President of Supply Chain, and Jeff
Martin, currently Vice President of Transformation, to
Senior Vice President of Omni-Channel Retail. Mr. Stacy will
continue to lead initiatives focusing on supply chain and direct
sourcing and Mr. Martin will oversee store and e-commerce
operations. Both have extensive experience in retail operations,
and each has been involved in building Kirkland's current
initiatives.
"We wish Mike well in his future endeavors and thank him for his
service to Kirkland's the past three years," said Mr. Woodward. "I
look forward to working with John, Jeff and the Kirkland's team to
achieve our financial goals and to optimize the Kirkland's customer
experience."
Update on 2019 Holiday Performance
Mr. Woodward
continued, "While the environment remains challenging for home
décor retailing, our business overall remains on track with our
expectations. Seasonal and e-commerce sales are driving a
sequential improvement in the comp trend, and we have managed a
better transition to January than in recent periods." The Company
expects to report fourth quarter sales in late February.
Further Steps to Improve Growth and Profitability
In
connection with the executive changes, Kirkland's is continuing to
aggressively manage its operating and infrastructure costs. The
Company has further reduced expenses at its corporate office and is
planning to close 27 stores in early 2020, with the potential for
further reductions in the store base later in the year as
Kirkland's moves forward with its goals to right size the store
base.
"These moves reflect steps to streamline the organization and
further accelerate our initiatives to transform the business to a
more profitable model," said Mr. Woodward. "As we have outlined,
our plan includes efforts to improve the relevancy and quality of
our merchandise assortment, to operate with greater efficiency, and
to lower our cost of goods as we evolve to a true omni-channel
model that reinforces Kirkland's value heritage. We believe the
initiatives included in the plan are the right path for the future
of the Company and look forward to providing updates regarding our
progress in our fourth quarter earnings release and conference
call."
About Kirkland's, Inc.
Kirkland's, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is a specialty retailer
of home décor in the United
States. Although originally focused in the Southeast, the
Company has grown beyond that region and currently operates 432
stores in 37 states as well as an e-Commerce enabled website,
www.kirklands.com. The Company's stores present a broad
selection of distinctive merchandise, including holiday décor,
framed art, furniture, ornamental wall décor, fragrance and
accessories, mirrors, lamps, decorative accessories, textiles,
housewares, gifts, artificial floral products, frames, clocks and
outdoor living items. The Company's stores offer an extensive
assortment of holiday merchandise during seasonal periods as well
as items carried throughout the year suitable for
gift-giving. More information can be found at
www.kirklands.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information contained herein, the
statements in this release are forward-looking and made pursuant to
the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause Kirkland's actual
results to differ materially from forecasted results. Those risks
and uncertainties include, among other things, the impact of store
closures in 2020, the effectiveness of the Company's marketing
campaigns, risks related to changes in U.S. policy related to
imported merchandise, particularly with regard to the impact of
tariffs on goods imported from China and strategies undertaken to mitigate
such impact, the Company's ability to retain its senior management
team, continued volatility in the price of the Company's common
stock, the competitive environment in the home décor industry in
general and in Kirkland's specific market areas, inflation,
fluctuations in cost and availability of products, interruptions in
supply chain and distribution systems, including our e-commerce
systems and channels, the ability to control employment and other
operating costs, availability of suitable retail locations and
other growth opportunities, disruptions in information technology
systems including the potential for security breaches of Kirkland's
or its customers' information, seasonal fluctuations in consumer
spending, and economic conditions in general. Those and other risks
are more fully described in Kirkland's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K filed on March 29,
2019 and subsequent reports. Kirkland's disclaims any
obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce
results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect future events or developments.
Contact:
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Kirkland's
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SCR
Partners
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Nicole
Strain
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Jeff Black: (615)
760-3679
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(615)
872-4800
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Tripp Sullivan: (615)
760-1104
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IR@Kirklands.com
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SOURCE Kirkland's, Inc.