On May 19, 2025, it was reported, Hudson's Bay Company ULC has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its intellectual property portfolio and brand assets, including its signature HBC Stripes motif. The buyer is Canadian Tire Corp. The retail company, founded in 1922, operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its banners include Canadian Tire, Mark's, FGL Sports, PartSource and the Canadian operations of Party City. The purchase price is $30 million (Canadian dollars). Separately, Canadian Tire has bid for a handful of lease locations.
On May 14, 2025, it was reported, citing macroeconomic uncertainty and its first-quarter performance thus far, American Eagle Outfitters has withdrawn its fiscal year 2025 guidance, per a company press release Tuesday. The apparel brand's preliminary Q1 results reveal a 5% year-over-year decrease in revenue, to $1.1 billion. The company (which plans to report final Q1 results on May 29) also expects comps to decline by about 3% overall, with a 2% drop for American Eagle and a 4% decrease for Aerie. The company also expects an operating loss of about $85 million and an adjusted operating loss of approximately $68 million. The former accounts for a $17 million charge related to the closure of two fulfillment centers while the latter metric accounts for a $75 million write-down of inventory. The retail industry is dealing with quickly changing trade policy in the U.S., with an update on Monday that reduced heightened tariff rates with China for 90 days. American Eagle Outfitters' webpage on responsible sourcing notes that the company works with 101 factories in China. Additionally, the webpage says the retailer uses another 67 factories in Vietnam and just 12 in the U.S. American Eagle Outfitters in March reported Q4 2024 net revenue declined 4% to $1.6 billion while comps rose 3% and operating income rose slightly to $142 million. The company at the time expected its Q1 2025 results to feature a mid-single-digit revenue decline and an operating income of $20 million to $25 million. The apparel retailer had also provided a fiscal year 2025 outlook with a low-single-digit revenue decline and an operating income between $360 million and $375 million.
On May 5, 2025, it was reported, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in two years, with a plan to sell substantially all of its assets. The drugstore retailer said Monday it is in discussions with multiple potential acquirers and has secured $1.94 billion in financing to help fund the bankruptcy. Rite Aid remains open for business in the meantime and will divest or monetize any assets that aren't sold. This is a developing story.
On April 24, 2025, it was reported, upholstery and mattress fabric supplier Culp reported consolidated net sales of $52.3 million for the third quarter ended Jan. 26, a 6.1% drop compared with $60.4 million reported in the same quarter last year. Upholstery fabric sales were down 7.8%, while mattress fabric sales slid 4.8% from the prior-year period. The company posted a net loss of $4.1 million in the quarter, compared with a net loss of $3.2 million in the third quarter last year. The company said its mattress fabrics restructuring was completed in January, and Culp has an agreement to sale its Canadian facility, which is expected to generate between $6 million and $8 million in cash. The company said it expects to incur total restructuring and restructuring-related costs and charges of $8.5 million in fiscal 2025, of which $5.3 million is now expected to be cash expenditures. In addition, Culp said it expects to fund close to $1.8 million of the cash costs with proceeds from the sale of excess manufacturing equipment and proceeds from a building lease termination in Haiti. The company reported mattress fabric sales in the third quarter of $28.6 million, down 4.6% compared with sales of $30 million in the prior-year quarter. The segment posted an operating loss of $433,000 for the quarter, compared to an operating loss of $1.6 million in the third quarter of last year. For Culp's upholstery fabric segment sales dropped 22.3% to $23.6 million compared with $30.4 million in the same period last year. The segment posted operating income of $679,000 in the third quarter, compared to operating income of $2.1 million in the same quarter last year.
