Searles continued, "We anticipated that we would experience growing pains as we migrate to new consumers, store designs and strategies. We expected that the results of our initiatives would not be realized in one year but rather as part of a multi-year, multi-format strategy. However, we also anticipated that we would see some evidence that our strategies were beginning to take hold during the fourth quarter of 2006."
"We considered any improvement over our 2005 fourth quarter comparable store sales decrease of 10.0% to be some evidence that our strategies were beginning to take hold. A comparable store sales decrease of 21.6% during the fourth quarter has clearly shown us that the strategic course we have embarked upon needs refinement."
"While the average dollars spent per transaction is encouraging, the number of transactions is clearly unacceptable. As we build our Wilsons Leather brand, we have made a strategic decision to dedicate a portion of our inventory starting this fall to recognizable outerwear brands to increase the willingness of our customers to cross the lease line."
Searles concluded, "During the fourth quarter, we renegotiated our senior credit facility. Our new facility provides greater flexibility and extends our Term B loan to June of 2010. We have begun looking at various financing strategies that will provide additional working capital and funds for capital expenditures."
Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc
marketing@alchempro.com
