Zumiez Inc. provided a business update in response to the continued impact of COVID-19.
With the well-being of its employees, customers and the general public in mind, all Zumiez stores in the U.S. and Canada as well as the Company’s Blue Tomato stores in Europe and Fast Times stores in Australia, will remain closed until further notice.
The company will continue to follow the guidance of local, state and federal governments as well as health organizations to determine when it can safely reopen its stores in each jurisdiction in which it operates. During this time the company continues to serve its customers in these regions through Zumiez.com, Zumiez.ca, blue-tomato.com, and fasttimes.com.au digital platforms.
The company ended fiscal 2019 with over $250 million in cash and no debt. During this time, the company continues to support its full-time workforce either directly or through a partnership with local government programs. The company has also identified measures to reduce expense and preserve cash, including:
- Suspending hiring, laying off virtually all of its part-time staff, eliminating all planned fiscal 2020 bonuses and delaying the majority of merit raises;
- Lowering operating costs, including travel, marketing and other non-essential items;
- Reducing capital spend by delaying or canceling select projects;
- Reducing planned inventory receipts by canceling or delaying orders;
- Suspending rent payments while it negotiates rent relief with its landlords and delays or cancels planned new store openings;
- Extending payment terms for both merchandise and non-merchandise vendor invoices; and
- Pausing its share repurchase program until there is more visibility to store openings.
