Things are heating up in sleepy Plymouth, Minn., where the 518-store women’s apparel chain Christopher & Banks is holding its annual meeting on June 25.
Macellum Advisors, which owns a 5.1 percent stake in the company, said it plans to vote against the nine sitting directors who rejected its efforts to get board representation and whose terms are up for re-election.
“With the first quarter disappointment squarely in focus,” the activist said in a board letter on Thursday, “we are convinced that the company is in need of additional oversight.”
The company lost $1.4 million in the first quarter ending May 2, while same-store sales declined 11.7 percent over the same period. Its stock price has plummeted from $11.22 in September to $4.17 on Thursday.
Shoppers are simply not “responding” to the retailer’s merchandise, Macellum said.
Christopher & Banks’ closest competitors are Dressbarn and JCPenney.
Over the past two weeks, Macellum has been in discussions with management over the chain’s problems and requested a board seat for the company’s former CEO, Joel Waller, according to the letter.
The company declined to comment on Macellum’s letter.