Vince Cuts Loss Amid Hefty Sales Gains

“We are pleased with our performance in the quarter, particularly with the Vince brand approaching pre-pandemic levels driven by strength in our direct-to-consumer business,” Jack Schwefel, chief executive officer, said in a statement. “The brand continues to resonate with both women and men with sophisticated, high-quality assortments. Going forward,” Schwefel added, “we will continue to focus on accelerating direct-to-consumer as well as our growth strategies of building out our e-commerce capabilities, strengthening brand awareness through marketing, and accelerating growth in men’s.

“At Rebecca Taylor, we remain encouraged by the long-term potential we see for this brand as we continue to leverage the same strategies that made the Vince brand turnaround so successful,” he said.

At the Vince brand last quarter, net sales increased 108.5 percent to $67.2 million compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Wholesale segment sales increased 105 percent to $35.2 million. Direct-to-consumer segment sales rose 112.5 percent to $32 million. Income from operations excluding unallocated corporate expenses was $15.6 million, compared to a loss of $1.1 million in the same period last year.

For Vince, the third and fourth quarters are bigger business periods than the second quarter. “Think of the brand’s core strengths – sweaters and outerwear,” which sell strongest in the second half of the year, Schwefel said in an interview

Asked for his outlook on the rest of the year, Schwefel told WWD, “We feel good. We’ve got nice momentum in retail and online, though I’m not as optimistic as six or seven weeks ago, before the rise of the Delta variant. But we are holding tough. We are definitely seeing store traffic erosion, but we have been able to drive up average orders, and work more on an individual basis with customers which is what a specialty store should do.”

Vince shifts its marketing for holiday around the end of October, early November.

In Vince women’s, Schwefel cited dresses, blouses and some back-to-work styles among best-sellers. “We are a fairly casual line that plays well whether she (the customer) stays home or goes to work. We are seeing dresses and dressier styles at both Vince and Rebecca Taylor selling. Vince men’s wear is “performing very nicely right now,” Schwefel said, citing the linen program, garment-dyed T-shirts made domestically, and shirt jackets. Vince is building up its men’s collection, “going a little bit broader, with more sweaters and more wovens,” Schwefel said. There is opportunity to grow the door count, with retailers that sell Vince men’s wear. “With just Neiman’s, Nordstrom and select Bloomingdale’s, we can grow our door count by close to 20 percent for spring,” Schwefel said.