Recovering from SARS

Burberry Ltd. (London) reported that sales rebounded towards the end of the first quarter as price cuts and the end of the SARS epidemic encouraged shoppers to return to stores.

The fashion brand's same-store sales gained 1-2 percent in the three months ending June 30, 2003, according to coo Mike Metcalf. The company's sales dropped 5 percent in the first seven weeks of the period, he said, caused by concerns about SARS and the war in Iraq.

The 150-year-old “mad for plaid” company operates retail and wholesale businesses and a licensing network. Its nearly 130 company-owned stores and concessions in high-end department stores worldwide sell men's and women's designer apparel and accessories under the Prorsum and Burberry London names.