"For our J. Jill brand, we currently anticipate that first quarter comparable store sales will be approximately flat with last year, below our previous expectations of positive low-single digits. Our March and April comps are positive, partially reflecting a favorable customer response to some of the product adjustments our J. Jill merchandising team has been able to make. This gives us confidence that we are moving in the right direction, particularly in color and design."
"We still have a great deal of work ahead of us, but we are making progress to improve the performance of our J. Jill brand. We look forward to presenting a broader selection of apparel developed by our new merchandising team beginning in the second quarter and are hopeful for stronger selling trends across all channels in the J. Jill brand."
"For the Talbots brand, we have strongly enhanced our marketing program for the remainder of the spring season and have put a number of actions in place to help drive increased customer traffic and sales. Specifically, we have added a Mother's Day Sweepstakes event, a special tee-shirt promotion that will run in May, and double points for our Talbots Charge Classic Awards customers throughout the month of June, among others. We are hopeful that these initiatives will help build healthier momentum in our business."
"As we look ahead, however, we remain cautious, particularly given our April sales trends. We expect to provide additional information regarding our revised outlook for full year 2007, when we report first quarter earnings results on May 23rd."
marketing@alchempro.com
