"Fiscal 2007 was an important year for us. We successfully opened 50 new stores in markets across the country and we remodeled 32 additional stores to our "brite" store format. We continued our strategy of measured investments in our people and infrastructure.
These investments included a new point-of-sale (POS) system chainwide, our new E-Commerce website and our markdown optimization software to complement our merchandising systems. We also continued to build and strengthen our leadership team through hiring, retention and development."
Mr. Hoffman continued: "We are pleased with the start of the first quarter of fiscal 2008 as we have seen continued improvement in our sales trends quarter to date. We believe our merchandise assortments are fashion and trend right. We entered the quarter well positioned from an inventory standpoint and we continue to be pleased with the performance of our new and remodeled stores.
In addition, we believe that the investments we have made in the infrastructure will continue to drive improvements in our execution and customer service and support our long term growth objectives. With that said, given the uncertain economic environment and with more than 60% of the quarter ahead of us including the important holiday season, we remain cautious and will operate the business accordingly."
"Based on our current outlook, the Company would guide investors to expect a flat to low single digit decline in comparable store sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 with diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.47 to $0.50. This compares to diluted earnings per share of $0.55 for the first quarter last year.
As has been the Company's policy, this guidance does not include the potential of any business risks, opportunities or developments that may occur after November 14, 2007. Management does not expect to report on its first quarter financial performance, or to comment on it to the investment community, until after the financial results for the first quarter have been released on or about January 24, 2008."
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Charlotte Russe Holding Inc
marketing@alchempro.com
