Torrid taps new COO and CFO, lowers Q2 guidance

Plus-size womenswear brand Torrid has lowered its outlook for the second quarter of the year and announced key new appointments to its top team.

The US brand, which specialises in fashion for sizes 10 to 30, has appointed Tim Martin to the joint role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer, effective September 12.

Martin joins from Guitar Center where he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Earlier in his career, he worked in a number of roles across big-name companies including Lands’ End, Gap, and Disney.

He replaces Tanner MacDiarmid who has been serving as interim CFO, and who will remain at the business on a consulting basis.

Torrid also announced the appointment of Hyon Park as its new chief technology officer.

Park joins from Belk where he served as executive vice president and chief information officer. Prior to Belk, he worked at companies including Tailored Brands and Gymboree.

Torrid lowers Q2 sales, EBITDA outlook

Chief executive officer Lisa Harper welcomed the two new hires to the company, but also said the company had lowered its outlook for the second quarter as it continues to “navigate through the current macro environment”.

Torrid now expects Q2 sales of between 335 million dollars and 340 million dollars, down from its previous estimate of between 350 million dollars and 360 million dollars.

It expects adjusted EBITDA of between 49 million dollars and 51 million dollars compared to its previous guidance of between 53 million dollars and 58 million dollars.

The company will publish its second-quarter results and FY22 outlook on September 7.

Harper said: “Although our web traffic trends have been consistent, store traffic trends slowed in July and shipping disruptions caused by upgrades to our distribution platform during the quarter created unanticipated headwinds.”

But she added that the increased capacity of its fulfillment center means customers are receiving their orders “as expected”, and it was able to clear its projected levels of excess inventory and expects to have its assortments “in a balanced position” by mid-September.