Charming Shoppes to hold annual shareholders meeting in Memphis
24 Jun '05
2 min read
Leading multi-channel specialty women's apparel retailer and direct marketer Charming Shoppes Inc held its 2005 Annual Meeting of Shareholders at its Catherines Plus Sizes home office in Memphis, Tennessee. At the meeting, shareholders approved the reelection of two directors, Dorrit J. Bern and Alan Rosskamm, for a three-year term.
Dorrit J. Bern, CEO, President and Chairman of Charming Shoppes, Inc., reviewed the Company's performance during 2004. Bern said, "We made great progress during 2004, with a 70% increase in net income.
The majority of our success was a direct result of focusing on our merchandise offerings at Lane Bryant, and delivering assortments that met our customers' needs and expectations.
Other key areas of success during the year included strong increases in our e-commerce business, and improved performance of our credit portfolio, driven by lower delinquencies than a year ago. We saw solid improvement in our gross margin of 160 basis points, driven primarily by merchandise initiatives at Lane Bryant, as well as increases in direct sourcing volumes and the consolidation of our distribution operations for our Lane Bryant and Catherines brands.
"Additionally," Bern continued, "we began 2005 strongly, reporting record earnings in our first quarter ended April 30, 2005. We also announced the strategic acquisition of Crosstown Traders, Inc., which accelerates our growth as a multi-channel retailer."
Concurrent with the Company's Annual Meeting, Kenneth S. Olshan retired as a director, as he has reached the mandatory retirement age as prescribed in the Company's by-laws. Ken has served as a director of Charming Shoppes since 1999.
marketing@alchempro.com
