Wilsons Leather is scaling back

Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc., a retailer of leather clothing and accessories, plans to close as many as 100 stores and eliminate about 1,000 jobs to reduce expenses as it renegotiates agreements with lenders.

Company spokeswoman Linda Angelacci said it is unknown at this time whether any Utah stores will be included in the closures.

"We do not have the breakdown yet of stores by market," Angelacci told the Deseret Morning News. "That will be forthcoming in the next few days as we continue to negotiate with landlords."

According to the company's Web site, Wilsons has seven stores along the Wasatch Front -- at Crossroads Plaza, Fashion Place Mall, Cottonwood Mall, Valley Fair Mall, University Mall in Orem, the Salt Lake City International Airport and the Tanger Outlet Center near Park City.

The cuts include about 950 positions at stores and another 70 at the company's headquarters and distribution centers, the company said in a statement. The closings are on top of 28 stores to be shuttered this month and as many as 50 lease terminations already planned for the money-losing 598-store chain.

Wilsons, based in Brooklyn Park, Minn., will have pretax costs of as much as $50 million to liquidate inventory and end leases. The company needs to amend, refund or renew its 11.25 percent senior notes due in August by April 15. It has lost money in eight out of the past 10 quarters.

"They obviously need to cut costs because they've not been making money," said William Armstrong, an analyst at C.L. King & Associates who has a "neutral" rating on the stock and doesn't own any himself.

Shares of Wilsons, which sells coats, handbags, wallets and gloves, dropped 5 cents to $3.42 Thursday on Nasdaq. They declined 31 percent last year.

Wilsons chief financial officer Pete Michielutti didn't immediately return a call for comment. The company said last week it received a waiver to the financial covenants to the loans that will give it time to improve operations.

A distribution center in Las Vegas is being closed, while other jobs are being cut at facilities in Minnesota and Nevada.

Contributing: Jenifer K.Nii

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