NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PVH Corp. [NYSE: PVH] announced today that in response to the escalating global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, it will close temporarily all Company-operated retail stores across North America and Europe, effective March 17 through March 29. All retail associates at these locations will continue to receive full pay and benefits for their scheduled shifts during the temporary closure period.
Consumers can continue to shop from our digital commerce websites, Tommy.com, CalvinKlein.com, VanHeusen.com, Izod.com, styleBureau.com and SpeedoUSA.com, in applicable markets.
The company’s offices remain open; however, all associates are working remotely in North America and Europe with the exception of a minimal number of business critical functions. We will continue to re-evaluate these procedures along with the latest developments with the COVID-19 situation.
Many of the company-operated stores across the Asia Pacific region have re-opened, although stores in some regions are operating on reduced hours. While retail store traffic has shown some improvement over the past month, it remains down significantly compared with the prior year. The company’s offices in Greater China have re-opened, and offices in South Korea and Japan remain open but most associates are working remotely.
“We know many people – our associates, consumers, partners and communities - are feeling uncertain as we deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Health and safety remain our top priorities. This is an unprecedented and rapidly changing situation to which we will need to continue to adapt. We want to thank everyone in our organization, as well as our partners, for their dedication to our business and the support they’re providing to each other as we all rally together during this time. We’re confident that together we will show our resilience and bounce back. We urge everyone to be safe and engage in the health protections urged by health authorities,” said Manny Chirico, Chairman and CEO.
PVH will provide a business update, including the impacts of COVID-19, during its fourth quarter fiscal 2019 earnings call, to be held on April 2, 2020 and will provide any other updates on the situation as may be warranted before then.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Forward-looking statements in this press release, including, without limitation, statements relating to the Company’s future plans, strategies, objectives, expectations and intentions are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which cannot be predicted with accuracy and some of which might not be anticipated, including, without limitation, (i) the Company’s plans, strategies, objectives, expectations and intentions are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the Company; (ii) the Company may be considered to be highly leveraged and uses a significant portion of its cash flows to service its indebtedness, as a result of which the Company might not have sufficient funds to operate its businesses in the manner it intends or has operated in the past; (iii) the levels of sales of the Company’s apparel, footwear and related products, both to its wholesale customers and in its retail stores, the levels of sales of the Company’s licensees at wholesale and retail, and the extent of discounts and promotional pricing in which the Company and its licensees and other business partners are required to engage, all of which can be affected by weather conditions, changes in the economy, fuel prices, reductions in travel, fashion trends, consolidations, repositionings and bankruptcies in the retail industries, repositionings of brands by the Company’s licensors, and other factors; (iv) the Company’s ability to manage its growth and inventory, including the Company’s ability to realize benefits from acquisitions, such as the acquisitions referenced in this press release; (v) quota restrictions, the imposition of safeguard controls and the imposition of duties or tariffs on goods from the countries where the Company or its licensees produce goods under its trademarks, such as the recently imposed tariffs and threatened increased tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. from China, any of which, among other things, could limit the ability to produce products in cost-effective countries or in countries that have the labor and technical expertise needed, or require the Company to absorb costs or try to pass costs onto consumers, which could materially impact the Company’s revenue and profitability; (vi) the availability and cost of raw materials; (vii) the Company’s ability to adjust timely to changes in trade regulations and the migration and development of manufacturers (which can affect where the Company’s products can best be produced); (viii) changes in available factory and shipping capacity, wage and shipping cost escalation, civil conflict, war or terrorist acts, the threat of any of the foregoing, or political or labor instability in any of the countries where the Company’s or its licensees’ or other business partners’ products are sold, produced or are planned to be sold or produced; (ix) disease epidemics and health-related concerns, such as the current outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus), which could result (and, in the case of the current coronavirus outbreak, has resulted, in some of the following instances) in closed factories, reduced workforces, scarcity of raw materials and scrutiny or embargoing of goods produced in infected areas, as well as closed stores, reduced consumer traffic and purchasing, as consumers become ill or limit or cease shopping in order to avoid exposure, or governments impose mandatory business closures, travel restrictions or the like to prevent the spread of disease; (x) acquisitions and divestitures and issues arising with acquisitions, divestitures and proposed transactions, including, without limitation, the ability to integrate an acquired entity or business into the Company with no substantial adverse effect on the acquired entity’s, the acquired business’s or the Company’s existing operations, employee relationships, vendor relationships, customer relationships or financial performance, and the ability to operate effectively and profitably the Company’s continuing businesses after the sale or other disposal of a subsidiary, business or the assets thereof; (xi) the failure of the Company’s licensees to market successfully licensed products or to preserve the value of the Company’s brands, or their misuse of the Company’s brands; (xii) significant fluctuations of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies in which the Company transacts significant levels of business; (xiii) the Company’s retirement plan expenses recorded throughout the year are calculated using actuarial valuations that incorporate assumptions and estimates about financial market, economic and demographic conditions, and differences between estimated and actual results give rise to gains and losses, which can be significant, that are recorded immediately in earnings, generally in the fourth quarter of the year; (xiv) the impact of new and revised tax legislation and regulations; and (xv) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of the receipt of new information, future events or otherwise.
