Mothers Work

Mothers Work Inc. (Philadelphia) has reported a 3.2 percent increase in net sales for the month of July 2005. Same-store sales decreased 4.3 percent.

During the month, the maternity apparel retailer opened two leased department locations and closed one store and one leased department. It ended the month with 856 stores and 1593 total retail locations, compared to 883 stores and 1109 total retail locations at the end of July 2004. This increase resulted predominantly from the expansion of the proprietary Two Hearts maternity collection to an additional 497 Sears locations during late March 2005.

“Our sales for the month of July improved significantly in the second half of the month compared to the first half of the month, as we saw the beneficial impact on sales of the additional markdowns we took in mid-July,” said president and chief operating officer Rebecca Matthias. “Our comparable store sales decrease was in line with our prior guidance of approximately 4 percent to 5 percent. We saw an increasingly severe clearance environment for spring maternity apparel during the latter half of June and especially in July, with this clearance environment being more severe than we had previously anticipated.”