What happened
Shares of several brick-and-mortar retailers were moving higher on Tuesday morning, following growing investor optimism about the easing of restrictions on businesses in parts of the United States.
Here's where things stood for these three companies' stocks as of 10 a.m. EDT:
- Designer Brands (DBI 2.44%) was up 10.6%.
- Kohl's (KSS 2.12%) was up 5%.
- Macy's (M 1.62%) was up 6.8%.
So what
Are we past the worst of the coronavirus crisis? Investors are starting to think so after California Governor Gavin Newsom outlined initial steps to ease restrictions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 on Monday. Many types of retailers, including clothing stores, will be able to reopen for curbside pickup in California starting this Friday, May 8.
Several other states, including Florida, have begun lifting restrictions or have said that they will do so soon. Mall operator Simon Property Group reopened over 40 of its malls and outlet shopping centers over the weekend, and plans to open more in the next few weeks as local restrictions are eased.
Macy's began reopening its U.S. stores on Monday. Image source: Macy's.
Macy's last week detailed plans to begin reopening its stores as local governments and situations allow, with a goal of having all of its U.S. stores reopened by mid-June. It reopened several locations on Monday.
Designer Brands said on Monday that it reopened several of its DSW Discount Shoe Warehouse stores on April 30, and that it expects to reopen nearly 200 more in the U.S. and Canada this week.
In a statement, Designer Brands CEO Roger Rawlins said that the company has implemented new measures, including frequent cleaning, face masks, and temperature checks for employees, as well as limits on the total number of customers allowed in a store at a time.
Kohl's hasn't yet released its plans to reopen.
Now what
Retail-chain investors can look forward to updates from all three companies' management teams in the next few weeks. Kohl's will report its fiscal first-quarter earnings before the market opens on Tuesday, May 19. Designer Brands and Macy's haven't yet announced dates for their earnings reports, but both typically report in late May.
