The Cato Corporation, the women’s fashion retailer, reported a second-quarter net loss Thursday, as same-store sales declined during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the second quarter ended Aug. 1, the retailer reported a net loss of $7.2 million, or a loss per diluted share of 30 cents, compared to net earnings of $11.87 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year.

Cato posted second-quarter revenue of $166.3 million, down 21 percent from the $210.4 million posted in the same quarter last year.

Same-store sales, a closely-followed metric in retail, plummeted 24 percent from the same period a year ago.

“Sales softened through the quarter and into early August. As we see this trend continuing, we are cautious about the second half of the year,” CEO John Cato said in the release.

Gross margin fell from 38 percent a year ago to 20.2 percent in the quarter “due to a reduction in merchandise contribution, combined with the effects of deleveraging from the sales decline related to the phased reopening of stores and limited operating hours,” according to the release.

The retailer closed all of its stores on March 19 as the coronavirus pandemic spread in the U.S. The company began reopening stores in a phased approach in May. By June 15, all of Cato’s stores were reopened.

The company added 36 new stores in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, Cato operated 1,333 stores across 31 states, versus 1,299 stores a year ago.

Shares of The Cato Corporation (CATO) fell around 3.26 percent in the after-hours session to last trade near $8 per share after closing Thursday at $8.27.