Tommy to Shrink Retail Chain

Tommy Hilfiger Corp. (Hong Kong) announced plans to close 37 of its 44 U.S. specialty stores in expectations of lower results for the remainder of its fiscal 2003.

For its second quarter, ended Sept. 30, 2002, net income increased 27.3 percent and net revenues were essentially unchanged.

“After analysis of our U.S. specialty store strategy, we have determined, and our board of directors has agreed, that the correct course of action for the company is to close 37 of our 44 U.S. specialty stores following the holiday selling season,” said ceo Joel Horowitz. “These stores have not met anticipated performance measures and we now believe that a better use of our management and investment resources is to meet the needs of our U.S. core businesses and to pursue our growth opportunities in Europe.

“However,” he said, “we are encouraged by the initial reaction to the exclusive men's and women's product we recently introduced in our stores, and therefore plan to continue to operate seven of our stores — three in New York and four in Los Angeles, primarily as vehicles for developing the exclusive product line.”