Goldfinger and others: Do you still think the next big trade is BIKR?
And how about that switch from SKYM to BKST?
After market close:
Brookstone Shares Rise On Expected Increase In Holiday Sales
Dow Jones Online News, Thursday, December 31, 1998 at 18:52
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Men's gifts and gadgets retailer Brookstone
Inc. saw its shares climb Thursday on expected healthy Christmas sales and rapidly growing sales over the Internet.
Shares of Brookstone (BKST) rose $1.125, or 7%, to $17.125 on Nasdaq volume of 181,100, compared with average daily volume of 76,000.
Earlier, the shares rose to a 52-week high of $19.25, surpassing the
previous high of $18.875 set Tuesday.
Brookstone will release December sales on Jan. 7.
"I hate to say it, but there's a lot of excitement toward e-commerce, and Brookstone hasn't been as vocal as some of its competitors about its Web site," said Steven Richter, a retail analyst with Tucker Anthony Inc. "It has a good Web site, and although it represented less than 1% of its (yearly) sales, it had a big surge over Christmas."
"There's a lot of talk about their online (sales)," a trader said. "Their Web site (sales are) exploding."
Brookstone President Michael Anthony said he was "very pleased with the company's overall Christmas performance" and confirmed that
Brookstone experienced a "substantial increase" in its online sales.
Anthony said that compared with last year's holiday sales over the
Internet, Brookstone saw an increase of "more than 300%," but he
declined to offer further details.
The executive said Brookstone had a "very interesting test" with
airport-located stores. The company's airport outlets during 1998
increased to 10 from three.
Anthony added that he expects to open "anywhere between five to seven airport and 15-20 regional mall stores in 1999."
Brookstone sells through stores in malls and airports, as well as by mail order catalogs and online.
- Margarita Palatnik; 201-938-2226;
margarita.palatnik@cor.dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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