GLEN ALLEN, VA. — Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co. (NYSE: HBB) has announced that it will close all stores of its retail subsidiary, The Kitchen Collection, by the end of the year. Kitchen Collection employs approximately 800 people at 160 stores across 37 states. The company previously closed about 35 underperforming stores in an effort to maintain long-term profitability, but higher operating losses in the first half of 2019 have prompted Hamilton Beach Brands to shutter the chain entirely. “Despite our best efforts to return Kitchen Collection to profitability through footprint consolidation, further deterioration in foot traffic has lowered our outlook for the prospects of a future return to profitability and positive cash flow generation,” says Gregory Trepp, president and CEO of Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co. Hilco Merchant Resources is handling the closing process for Kitchen Collection, which is now offering discounts and sales on a number of items like toasters, blenders and slow cookers. Conway MacKenzie is serving as financial advisor to the company. Hamilton Beach Brands is a designer, marketer and distributor of branded small electric household and specialty housewares appliances, as well as commercial products for restaurants, bars and hotels. Kitchen Collection is a national specialty …
