Cato's Curtain Closing!

Trump's economic policies are killing everything.

Cato, a prominent women's clothing company located in many suburban shopping centers is closing up to 150 stores in a restructuring.

Cato Corp. said in its September earnings statement it will close 70 “underperforming” stores in the third and fourth quarters of 2026. That brings the total number of closures this year to 120.

CEO John Cato said the closures come amid a challenging financial environment for many of the chain’s core markets.

“Annually we review approximately one-third of our stores to exercise available lease options or negotiate an extension based on each store’s performance including store sales trend and current and projected store profitability,” Cato said. “In years past, marginal stores were renewed for an additional year to give the store more time to improve its sales trend and profitability.

“In light of the current economic environment, especially with the negative pressure on our customers’ discretionary income, we do not expect these marginal stores to improve appreciably,” he added. “As a result, we are closing more stores than expected this year. We believe that closing these additional stores will have a positive impact on our operating results in fiscal 2027 and beyond.”

Cato’s sales for the second quarter were $163.9 million, a drop of about 6% over the same period the prior year. Same-store sales were down 3.7% year-over-year. Its net income for the second quarter was $1.1 million, down from $6.8 million the prior year.

The Charlotte, North Carolina -based chain operates more than 1,000 stores across 31 states. It also operates Versona, an upscale apparel and accessories brand with 90 locations, as well as It’s Fashion and Fashion Metro Brands, which combine an addtional 119 stores.