Bon-Ton tweaks its approach

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/16/2012 12:56:32 PM

York, Pa. - The Bon-Ton Stores is overhauling its marketing approach, going into fall with fewer promotional events that last longer.
"We had choppy two and three day sales," said Brendan Hoffman, president and ceo, who noted the short promotions required stores to reset too frequently.
The company also faltered during the spring by tracking to too rapidly woo a younger customer with more contemporary goods, he said. The 272-unit department store chain's mix as shifted from 70% moderate/traditional to 50%, a strategy that hurt sales.
"We let down our core customer and didn't attract new customers fast enough," said Hoffman.
Net loss for the quarter ended July 28 widened to $45.2 million, or $2.43 per share, compared to a year-ago net loss of $32.3 million, or $1.78 per share.

Sales were essentially flat - down 0.1% to $595 million. Total revenue slipped 0.3% to $607 million. Comps eked up 0.1%. The home department was one of several areas that showed improvement during the quarter, the company reported.

For the first half of the fiscal year, net loss was $85.8 million, or $4.66 per share, compared to a year-ago net loss of $68.3 million, or $3.79 per share. Sales were down 0.1% to $594.9 million, with comps down 0.6%.