About Half of Under Armour’s US Stores Will Be Reopened by Friday — Here’s How It’s Keeping Shoppers Safe

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Under Armour is phasing in more of its fleet — but it’s taking a cautious approach.

By Friday, the Baltimore-based athletic brand will have brought back about 50% of its outposts, it announced. The company reopened its first doors on May 15 and added more units last week.

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To help keep shoppers and employees safe, Under Armour said it is limiting store occupancy, adding social distancing labels at checkout as well as other high-traffic areas and reducing store hours to allow time for enhanced cleaning. Additionally, the company is requiring store workers and customers to wear masks and adding hand sanitizing stations throughout its units. Fitting rooms will temporarily be shut, and returned products will be kept off the floor for 72 hours.

“We are excited to begin reopening our doors in North America. Fitness and staying healthy are top of mind for our customers and we are committed to serving them safely, while ensuring our teammates’ wellbeing remains our top priority,” said Under Armour CEO Patrik Frisk in a release.

Like other brands, Under Armour has faced challenges due to the coronavirus. At the height of the pandemic, more than 80% of doors were closed between the company’s owned stores and wholesale partners.

In early April, the company announced that it would furlough store associates at its full-price and Factory House outlet stores, as well as roughly 600 distribution center workers. Additionally, all EVP-level leaders and top executives took pay cuts of 25%, while the board of directors saw their compensation reduced by 25%. In 2020, Under Armour intends to slash about $325 million in operating costs to help bolster the company as it navigates through the pandemic. As part of its restructuring plan, which was approved by the board at the end of March, the brand expects to see $475 million to $525 million in pretax restructuring costs.

For the first quarter ended March 31, Under Armour posted a net loss of $589.7 million, or a loss of $1.30 per share. On an adjusted basis, its net loss was $152 million, or 34 cents per share. Revenues, meanwhile, decreased 23% to $930.2 million, with the company attributing roughly 15 percentage points of that drop to the COVID-19 health crisis.

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