Kathryn Bufano, the new president and chief executive officer of Bon-Ton Stores Inc., will be based in Milwaukee, the company said in its quarterly earnings call this morning.
The company, which has dual headquarters in Milwaukee and York, Pa., recently named retail industry veteran Bufano president and chief executive officer. She will assume the role next week, succeeding Brendan Hoffman. Bufano is an Illinois native.
Hoffman served as president and CEO beginning in January 2012. He is leaving for “strictly personal reasons” and will assist Bufano with the transition
CEO transition costs of $3 to $4 million are expected to be incurred in the third quarter.
Bon-Ton reported a second quarter net loss of $36.2 million, or $1.86 per share, compared to a net loss of $37.3 million, or $1.95 per share, in the second quarter of 2013.
Revenue was $563.5 million, up from $557.1 million in the same period a year ago.
Harsh weather lowered traffic in the early part of the year, but comparable store sales were still up 1.6 percent year-over-year. The second quarter also included $3.9 million in debt extinguishment costs associated with certain senior notes.
“We were pleased that we achieved comparable store sales growth, particularly given the challenging promotional environment and continuation of soft traffic trends,” Hoffman said. “Ecommerce delivered another strong quarter driven primarily by increased conversion. In addition, our proprietary credit card penetration increased to approximately 51 percent of total sales, further demonstrating the ongoing strength of our loyalty program. We continued to carefully manage our inventory, ending the quarter approximately flat on a comparable store basis as compared with the prior year period and positioning us well for the fall season.”
Bon-Ton operates 272 department stores in 25 states under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers brands.
