The Wet Seal Inc, a leading specialty retailer to young women, reported comparable store sales increased 0.7% for the five-week period ended July 7, 2007, compared to the five-week period ended July 8, 2006.
The Company reported a 4.0% decrease in comparable store sales in fiscal June last year. The reported same store sales increase compares to guidance that indicated an increase in the low single digits. Net sales for the five-week period ended July 7, 2007 were $54.5 million, compared to net sales of $48.0 million reported for the five-week period ended July 1, 2006.
Joel Waller, chief executive officer of The Wet Seal Inc commented: "The modest increase in comparable store sales reflects relatively strong sales for the Wet Seal concept that were substantially offset by weaker sales for the Arden B concept."
"At Wet Seal, we saw good customer response to our 'Best Summer Ever' marketing campaign and our featured products. We believe Arden B's sales shortfall reflects an overall soft environment in the women's contemporary fashion segment, inventory balance issues including a lack of clearance inventory available for sale, and weak performance of new floor sets introduced in June."
"For July, we expect a combined low-to-mid single digit decrease in comparable store sales due to a shift to later back-to-school dates in key markets in Florida and Texas and lower inventory levels at Arden B. We expect the Arden B inventory balance will improve by mid-August and the sales shift associated with the change of back-to-school dates will benefit Wet Seal's sales in August."
The Company also reaffirmed today its earnings guidance for the second quarter which is estimated in the range of $0.05 to $0.08 per diluted share.
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