​Destination XL posts widening losses, appoints new chief digital officer

By

Robin Driver

Published
Nov 25, 2019

Specialty big and tall menswear retailer Destination XL reported slipping sales and widening losses for the third quarter on Friday and announced the appointment of Ujjwal Dhoot as its new chief digital officer.

 
In the third quarter ended November 2, 2019, the Canton, Massachusetts-based retailer achieved total sales of $106.6 million, down 0.05% from the $107.1 million reported by the company in the prior-year period. Store closures contributed to the decline, which was partially offset by a comparable sales increase of 0.2%, or $0.2 million.
 
Destination XL’s quarterly net loss was $7.2 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared with a loss of $2.0 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2018.

“For the third quarter, we delivered our first positive sales comp for the year at +0.2%. This is a small win for us and a first step in the right direction,” commented Destination XL President and CEO Harvey Kanter in a release. “Although overall DXL sales performance is still not to the level that I believe we are capable, we remain cautiously optimistic and expect greater inflection in the coming quarters.”
 
Year to date, the company’s sales totaled $342.8 million, up from $342.6 million in the first three quarters of 2018. Net loss for the period was $10.2 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to $6.3 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the same period in the previous year.
 
On Friday, Destination XL also announced that it has hired Ujjwal Dhoot, whose appointment as chief digital officer is effective on December 16, 2019.
 
In his new role, Dhoot will be responsible for all digital initiatives across the company, from mobile and e-commerce to digital marketing and brand building.
 
He joins Destination XL from Health-E Commerce, where he has served as chief marketing officer and chief product officer since January 2018. Prior to this, he held a range of senior marketing positions at Charming Charlie, FSAstore.com and PetCareRx.com.
 
“Ujjwal’s appointment underscores our ongoing commitment to building out a digitally-driven marketing organization,” explained Kanter. “Our organizational pursuits support the heightened strategic focus on customer engagement through data-driven personalization, loyalty and digital marketing; our #1 priority area for DXL for 2020.”
 
The appointment of the executive, who holds an M.Com from the University of Mumbai and an MBA in marketing and management from Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management, comes on the heels of the appointment of Erica Thompson as the company’s chief marketing officer last month.
 
Looking forward, Destination XL expects full-year comparable sales to be flat in fiscal 2019.