Sperry stores temporarily close in response to Covid-19

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Mar 20, 2020

Sperry’s, the Massachusetts-based brand of boat shoe fame, has closed all of its stores through March 27 in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

The decision was announced by Joëlle Grunberg, Sperry global brand president. 

“As we deal with unprecedented circumstances related to Covid-19, the health, safety and well-being of the Sperry team, and the communities in which we live, work and play are the most important consideration today and always," she said.

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"In order to protect our friends and family, we have made the difficult decision to close all Sperry stores through March 27, 2020 to limit the spread of Covid-19."

While Sperry's physical locations are closed, Grunberg said employees will continue to be compensated and the store's e-commerce platform will remain up and running, offering free shipping on all orders. 

"We do not take the closing of our stores lightly as we know our employees depend on us – so, during the closure period, our teams will continue to be paid.

"We will continue to monitor the situation, and reopen as soon as we are confident we can do so in the safest way possible. While we may be physically distancing ourselves, we are committed to staying connected via our social media channels and sperry.com remains open and is ready to serve our customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

"We hope that our friends, members of the extended Sperry family and the wider community stay safe during this difficult time.” 

The announcement comes after Sperry's Michigan-based parent company, Wolverine World Wide, announced the temporary closure of its retail stores through March 27.

In February, Wolverine World Wide announced a slight increase in its fourth-quarter sales. However, the company plummeted into loss as a consequence of expenses related to litigation brought against it by the State of Michigan and Plainfield Charter and Algoma Townships, relating to its contamination of water with PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances).