Vans, North Face owner VF Corp. says a hack is disrupting holiday orders

By Tonya Garcia | Bloomberg

Struggling apparel and footwear maker VF Corp. said it’s working to restore its ability to fulfill orders following a cyberattack, though the company hasn’t yet determined the full scope of the incident.

“Unauthorized occurrences” were detected on a portion of the company’s information technology system on Dec. 13, the North Face, Timberland and Vans parent said in a filing. The “threat actor” also stole personal and other data. The company is working with external cybersecurity experts and has shut down some systems.

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The disruption had caused — and is “reasonably likely” to continue to have — a material impact on operations, the company said in the filing.

VF Corp. had already pulled its fiscal 2024 revenue and earnings guidance when it announced its quarterly results at the end of October. The Denver-based company put a transformation plan in place to address weak performance in North America and turn around the Vans brand. Included in the plan was a cost-reduction commitment of $300 million for brand building and innovation, Chief Executive Officer Bracken Darrell said on the earnings call.

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Shares fell 7.3% at 9:45 a.m. in New York. VF stock was down 28% for the year through the Dec. 15 close, while the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Sector Index had gained 41%.

VF retail stores around the world are still open for business and the company says customers can place e-commerce orders, but fulfillment has been affected. The company has also put workarounds in place for some offline operations.