Daily Record Financial News &
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Vol. 104, No. 157 • One Section
35¢
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Struggling Stein Mart is making changes
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
Stein Mart intends to completely renovate its store at 4399 Roosevelt Blvd. The retailer’s comparable-store sales fell 7.6 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Amid slumping sales, retailer hires new ad agency and is testing revamped store layouts. By Mark Basch Contributing Writer Jay Stein says about “95 percent” of retailers are struggling in the current economic environment, and his company is no exception. But the chairman of fashion retailer Stein Mart Inc. isn’t satisfied that his company is going along with the trend. “We’re clearly not where we want to be, need to be, are going to be,” Stein told shareholders at the annual meeting at the company’s Southbank headquarters. “We’ll get through this. That I’m going to assure you,” he said. Stein Mart Inc.’s comparable-store sales
fell 3.8 percent in fiscal 2016 and dropped 7.6 percent in the first quarter this year. Comparable-store sales are sales at stores open for more than one year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s performance. With the sales drop, Stein Mart’s stock fell to a low of $1 last month after its firstquarter earnings report, down from a 52-week high of $9.23 last summer and a 10-year high of $16.65 in February 2015. The 10-year high coincided with a decision to pay stockholders a special $5-a-share dividend. With the market price of the stock falling sharply since then, Stein Mart
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Stein Mart renews lease, will renovate at Roosevelt Square
Jacksonville-based Stein Mart Inc. renewed its lease at Roosevelt Square and intends to renovate the store inside and out as the shopping center starts to remodel. Stein Mart CEO D. Hunt Hawkins said after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting Tuesday the store expects to be flanked by Ulta Beauty and a
pet-supplies retailer. “It will be a pretty significant renovation,” he said. Stein Mart Investor Relations Director Linda Tasseff said Tuesday the fashion retailer renewed its lease at the West Jacksonville shopping center and is staying in its current 46,000-square-foot space. Stein Mart extended its current lease that ends Oct. 31, 2018, through Jan. 31, 2029. There are four five-year options through Jan. 31, 2049. Mathis
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JEA board moves ahead with plan for Downtown campus By David Cawton Staff Writer Dow n tow n I nve s t m e n t Authority members will take up a proposed land swap with JEA at its meeting today in the wake of the utility board’s unanimous approval Tuesday. JEA wants to build a new Downtown campus on cityowned land near the Duval County Courthouse and proposes to swap it for its West Church Street site next to City Hall. The DIA will consider approving the term sheet at 2 p.m. today
Public
when it meets in the Lynwood Roberts Room at City Hall. JEA Chief Financial Officer Melissa Dykes presented details of the term sheet to the board Tuesday and said the plan made the most sense for both the utility and its customers JEA had enlisted a consultant that looked at options that included renovating the 55-yearold building the utility owns at 21 W. Church St. Downtown. JEA said the 19-story building is outdated, in disrepair and expensive to maintain. Elevators, plumbing, electrical, heating
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and air-conditioning systems need replacement, which Dykes said would be costly. “Even if you look at renovating the spaces, you’re talking about having to maintain a building that’s substantially bigger than we need,” she said. Dykes said the utility hasn’t started the design, but was seeking about 200,000 square feet of space. JEA’s current campus, comprising the tower and a customer care center, has 337,600 square feet of space. JEA
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Photo by Max Marbut
JEA wants to build a new campus at this site next to the Duval County Courthouse. It’s now a parking lot.
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