Speaking Friday on an analyst call,
These events sent Indigo's third-quarter profits into a tailspin, dropping roughly 70 per cent to
Revenues for the quarter ended
Such numbers have made the transformation plan Indigo began last year even more critical. Reisman said steps to advance that plan were carried out during the quarter.
"We made the decision to rightsize and rightshape our general merchandise inventory," she said.
"This strategic decision to clear unnecessary inventory had a significant impact on margins and therefore profitability, but it was the right decision."
Chief financial officer and chief operating officer
He also acknowledged that some of the problems came down to what the retailer was selling.
"We don't believe in the home stretch of Christmas that we had the right general merchandise assortment that people were looking for in those final few weeks," he said.
Indigo, which began as a bookseller, has diversified its product mix significantly in recent years and now offers a range of products from cookware to sex toys and even furniture.
Some of that diversification happened under
Reisman, Indigo's founder, retired last summer, but rejoined the company in September after Ruis abruptly left the retailer.
Before Reisman's retirement as executive chair and a director in August, four of Indigo's 10 directors left its board, with Chika Stacy Oriuwa attributing her resignation to a "loss of confidence in board leadership" and "mistreatment." Other executives left shortly after.
Once Reisman took the helm of Indigo again, she launched a transformation plan, but released scant details.
Last week, a pair of companies owned by
On Friday, analysts got a better window into what's been going on at Indigo for the first time since the privatization offer.
Reisman said the company has now reinvested in its book inventory, which she considers core to its ethos to spread a love of reading.
It also laid off an unspecified number of staff and streamlined its head office in January, which she characterized as both "normal course of business" and "a difficult decision, but the right one."
On an annualized basis, Indigo expects the move to save it
Those savings could come in handy as Indigo focuses more closely on stabilizing its e-commerce operations, which underperformed compared with its retail division.
Following the
Asked by an analyst what issues Indigo's new e-commerce systems have faced, Reisman said, "I don't think that this is appropriate for us to go into the full details here."
However, she said issues with Indigo's e-commerce operations have stabilized and the company is working "to get it to the full potential of what we want."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
Companies in this story: (TSX:IDG)
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