Photo below: Designer Tommy Hilfiger (file photo)

DALLAS, Aug 19, 2004/ FW/ --- In a statement last Tuesday, the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation announced that it is consolidating its New York operations into two key locations, the current company headquarters at 25 West 39th Street and at the historic Starett-Lehigh Building wherein the company had leased approximately 200,000 square feet of space.

With this move, Tommy Hilfiger will effectively put its design, production, marketing, merchandising, headquarters, and administrative personnel into one venue.

In the same statement, the company said that it will sell its building at 485 Fifth Avenue and close down one of its four distribution centers in New Jersey “in order to minimize excess capacity and to increase efficiency by having its facilities in close proximity to each other.”

Though this action was unexpected, it is not a total surprise to analysts. Tommy Hilfiger Corporation reported net loss of $7.6 million on its first quarter filing, reporting sales of $328.6 million compared to $367.2 million during the same period last year.

Traded at the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker TOM, the company’s stock had been in flux for the past six months, hitting a high of over $18 per share in April and then hovering between $13 and $14 this August.

"By bringing together an employee base which, at one point, was housed in four different locations, our goal is to promote efficiency and productivity as well as to increase cohesiveness and collaboration,” David F. Dyer, President and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement.

Tommy Hilfiger Inc. will continue to own its current headquarters building at 25 West 39th Street and use it primarily for showroom space.

The closing of the building sale and the move to the new space are expected to take place on or about March 31, 2005. The closing of the distribution center is expected to take place on or about September 30, 2004.