Wolverine noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic greatly limited its global wholesale business during the first nine weeks of the second quarter, sales performed better than expected. The company believes the second quarter is still expected to be the most challenging quarter of fiscal 2020.

Through the first nine weeks of the second quarter of fiscal 2020 the company underlined the following:

- Owned eCommerce grew by more than 90% compared to the same nine-week period in the prior year, delivering more than 40% of the company’s revenue. Performance brands Merrell and Saucony as well as work brands Wolverine and Cat Footwear led this performance with strong triple-digit eCommerce growth;
- Owned retail stores started to reopen, and the company plans to open approximately 70 of its more than 90 stores by mid-June. Employees will wear face masks, checkout protocol and traffic patterns will be adapted to limit touchpoints, store hours will be reduced, and enhanced cleaning procedures will be in place;
- Online sell-through of the company’s US wholesale customers accelerated to strong double-digit growth after a few initial weeks of decline and grew double-digits overall during the nine-week period;
- Sell-through trends in retail stores operated by the company’s wholesale customers were down year-over-year, but steadily improved during the nine-week period with at-once order trends exceeding the company’s expectations entering the quarter. Certain key US retailers remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, including retailers in the farm channel among others. Re-order demand from these retailers primarily benefitted the company’s work and outdoor performance businesses;
- Certain countries, including many within Europe, began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and started to return to more normal retail selling environments earlier than the US. In these markets, running and outdoor performance product categories have generally performed better than other footwear categories;
- The company’s quarter-to-date revenue exceeded its expectations entering the second quarter. Total global revenue was down less than 50% compared to the same nine weeks in the prior year despite the impact of widespread global store closures during April and May. The strong performance of the company’s owned eCommerce business helped to offset the store closures. Wolverine anticipates a similar year-over-year trend in the last four weeks of the quarter.

“As the global economy continues to reopen, we are encouraged by some of the early trends”, commented Blake Krueger, Wolverine Worldwide’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, adding: “Our investment in digital capabilities over the last several years is paying off, delivering significant, highly profitable online growth. We are also seeing some promising at-once order demand where stores are open. The consumer is responding to fresh product offerings and relevant stories during this dynamic period. Our brands, particularly performance brands like Merrell and Saucony and work brands like Wolverine and Cat Footwear, are resonating with consumers in this environment, and our balance sheet and liquidity remain very healthy. We continue to be confident in the company’s ability to capitalize on the advantages of our diversified business model, powerful brands, and disciplined operations to deliver future value for our shareholders.”