Income slides at Zumiez
Action sports apparel, footwear and accessories retailer Zumiez has posted slightly higher sales for the third quarter ended October 31.
Sales for the period rose 0.8% to $113.2 million from $112.2 million during the third quarter ended November 1, 2008.
However, net income fell to $5.1 million for the quarter versus $6.8 million in the prior-year period. Comparable store sales fell 8% compared with a 5.8% decrease in the third quarter of 2008.
Sales for the nine months ended October 31 decreased 2.8% to $275.2 million from $283.2 million in the first nine months of the previous year. Net income was $0.3 million compared with $10.9 million during the same nine-month period last year.
Chief executive officer, Rick Brooks, said: "I want to credit our entire team for our better-than-expected third-quarter performance. By carefully managing our inventory, working closely with our branded and private label vendors to design programmes that would deliver improved merchandise margins, and finding ways to inspire consumers who visited our stores, we were able to exceed our initial third-quarter expectations and saw a meaningful improvement in our same store sales trends relative to the first half of fiscal 2009.
“Our results are particularly encouraging given that overall traffic and spending patterns continued to be volatile and the difficult macroeconomic environment continues. Although still challenging, we are also pleased to have seen some improved trends in certain of our larger, western markets, most notably California. Looking ahead, we believe we have a good plan in place for the Holiday season."
