GARDEN CITY, N.Y--Lifetime Brands will close 30 underperforming outlet stores: 27 Farberware outlet retail stores and three Pfaltzgraff factory stores that are projected to generate annual losses.
"While we are pleased with the progress that our direct to consumer management team has made in revitalizing our retail stores, we determined that certain locations do not have the potential to show meaningful profits and should be closed," said Jeffrey Siegel, chairman, president and chief executive officer in a statement.
The company will continue to operate 37 Pfaltzgraff stores and nine Farberware stores, as well as the Pfaltzgraff catalog business and Web site.
Lifetime has also completed the sale of its Westbury, N.Y., office building and plans to open a new West Coast distribution center today in Fontana, Cal. The new facility, expected to be fully operational in early 2008, will replace a former Syratech Corp. warehouse in Mira Loma, Cal., and a third-party distribution center, also in Mira Loma.