(Filed Under Financial and General Interest News). Although Charming Shoppes Inc. reported sales decreases for the first quarter ended May 1, 2010, Jim Fogarty, president and chief executive officer of the company, called these results an improvement.
The parent company of Lane Bryant, which runs the Cacique intimate apparel brand for plus-sized women, cited a net sales decrease of 6.2 percent, to $504.8 million from $538.1 million. The company attributed this drop primarily to the impact of closing 149 stores and opening five over the last four quarters. Comparable store sales decreased 2 percent overall, and 3 percent, 2 percent and 3 percent at the company’s Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines brands, respectively. E-commerce sales increased 36 percent, to $31.6 million from $23.3 million.
Forgarty said the company continued to focus on Lane Bryant during the first quarter. “During the third quarter of last year, we reassessed direction for Lane Bryant’s assortments, and as a result of that work, made a number of improvements in our spring 2010 assortments, including refocusing on our core moderate customer, and launching core tops programs […] An introducing new assortments in swimwear and footwear,” he said. “Late in the quarter, we introduced a national media campaign, which, coupled with a controversy surrounding our ‘sexy’ Cacique spot, created phenomenal excitement for our customer and our brands.”
At the end of the first quarter, Charming Shoppes Inc. operated 2,128 retail stores in 48 states.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in comments published on bodymagazine.us are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of Bodymagazine or its staff.
NOTE: Your Email will not be displayed.