Mr. Bowman,
Same store sales down 3% due to fewer days in the Christmas season not because of an actual decline. Read the complete press release.
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Claire's Stores, Inc.
(NYSE: CLE) reported today sales for the four weeks ended November 30 were
$36,220,000, up 32 percent over $27,530,000 reported for the four weeks ended
November 25, 1995.
Same store sales were down three percent for the four-week period. The
company noted, however, that the apparent decline in same store sales was
caused by this year's reporting schedule and not by any real decline in sales
momentum
"Last year was a 53 week retailing year," noted Rowland Schaefer, Claire's
Chairman and Chief Executive. "This is a 52 week year, which means that the
comparisons are not really on a like week to like week basis. One result of
this 'calender shift' is that this year included only two Christmas selling
days after Thanksgiving whereas in 1995 nine such days were counted in
November sales figures, significant, because the week after Thanksgiving is
always one of the biggest selling weeks of the year.
"A second result of the 'calendar shift' is what seems to be a decline in
same store sales. If we actually compare November sales this year to November
sales lasts year," Mr. Schaefer said, "same store sales this November were up
10% over last year."
The company expects this year's holiday selling season to be the best in
the company's history, Schaefer added. "Mall traffic is very strong. Our
inventory is exactly what we want it to be, in terms of both dollars and
having the right merchandise.
"We're on our way to another record year for Claire's, the third
consecutively."
Claire's Stores, Inc., the nation's premier retailer specializing in one-
stop shopping for women's fashion accessories, owns and operates 1565 stores
in 49 states, the Caribbean, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom
Claire's Stores, Inc.
(Sales in 000's)
Reporting Change FY 1997 FY 1996 TOTAL SAME STORES
CHANGE CHANGE
February $ 24,355 $ 17,593 38% 21%
March 38,063 25,669 48% 24%
April 29,956 24,792 21% 2%
May 30,009 23,576 27% 10%
June 38,459 28,979 33% 10%
July 32,251 24,741 30% 7%
August 36,270 27,783 31% 12%
September 36,477 28,255 32% 10%
October 29,777 23,804 25% 7%
November 36,220 27,530 32% (3%)
Year to Date $ 331,837 $ 252,722 31% 10%
Scott |
