Walmart is discontinuing White Stag, its in-house brand of women’s apparel, the company announced on Tuesday. The decision to axe the line comes as Walmart is trying to focus on its more profitable brands and scale back on its number of SKUs, or stock-keeping units.
“As we’ve said before, we’re committed to having a disciplined approach to inventory and assortments,” Walmart U.S. CEO Greg Foran said in a memo to employees obtained by Business Insider. “To that end, after a thorough review, we’ve made the decision to exit White Stag.”
The move is part of Foran’s strategy to make Walmart’s US business more profitable. As part of that goal, he has been cutting back on inventory and scaling back on the number of products the retailer offers.
White Stag was one of the brands that was part of that effort. The line, which launched in 2006, was aimed at women ages 18 to 34.
Walmart will begin phasing out White Stag immediately and will stop selling the brand online and in stores by the end of January. clearance sales of White Stag merchandise will begin later this month.
The decision to discontinue White Stag comes as Walmart is facing increased pressure from Amazon, which has been eating into its market share. In response, Walmart has been ramping up its e-commerce efforts and investing in other areas, such as grocery delivery and pickup services.
Walmart is also looking to cut costs and boost profits by closing underperforming stores and reducing its workforce. The company announced earlier this year that it would close 154 stores in the US.
