Ups and Downs

It is that time of the year, of course, for corporations around the country to make public their quarterly earnings reports. Here are the most recent performances of four closely watched retail organizations:

Barneys New York, Inc., which has been battling bankruptcy issues and, most recently, the defection of its top executive, reported a 9.8 percent increase in total sales for the second quarter, to $84.3 million; and an 11.3 percent increase in net sales over the past six months, to $180.9 million. Same-store sales increased 11.1 percent for the quarter, 12.9 percent for the six-month period.

Congratulating itself on its rebounding performance – fueled by attention to merchandise mix and cost controls – outgoing chairman, president and ceo Allen Questrom said, “Fall will be an historic season with the launch of our first comprehensive men's catalog. An improvement in the company's marketing and advertising campaigns has boded well for sales growth, and will enable us to penetrate our customer base more effectively.” The retailer now has, in addition to New York, flagship stores in Beverly Hills, and Chicago; five regional full-price stores; and eight outlet stores (plus two semi-annual warehouse sale events).

Venator Group, Inc. (New York) reported a 10.5 percent increase in comp-store sales and a 71 percent increase in adjusted net income. It reduced its debt, net of cash, by nearly $400 million. The reorganized former Woolworth's retail empire still operates more than 4300 stores under the Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Kids Foot Locker, Northern Reflections, and Kinney nameplates. It opened five stores, remodeled/relocated 43 stores and closed 69 stores (45 as a part of the 1999 restructuring program) during the quarter.

.”Operating results from all Athletic and Northern Group retail store formats exceeded our plan,” said chairman and ceo Dale Hilpert. “Additionally, sales from Footlocker.com, our direct-to-customer business,continued to perform above management's expectations, increasing 24 percent to $47 million, which included $8 million of Internet-only sales. We continue to grow this new channel of distribution while maintaining a tight control over our investment.”

The Limited, Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) reported a same-store sales increase of 6 percent for the second quarter and a sales increase of 4 percent (adjusted to reflect the spin-off in August 1999 of Too Inc.). The Limited still owns and operates 2,833 specialty stores under the Express, Lerner New York, Lane Bryant, Limited Stores, Structure and Henri Bendel nameplates. It also owns approximately 84 percent of Intimate Brands, Inc. – Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works and White Barn Candle Co.

Restoration Hardware, Inc. (Corte Madera, Calif.) reported a 32.1 percent net sales increase for the second quarter, but a net loss for the quarter of $3.4 million (a bigger net loss than the $2.6 million of red ink in 1999). Why? Probably because of a net comp-store sales increase of just 0.8 percent in the quarter and a decrease of 7.3 percent for the first six months of the year. “We continue to improve the operations of our business as evidenced by the improvement in operating profit as a percentage of sales this quarter over the same period a year ago,” said chairman and ceo Stephen Gordon. But some of their gain, he said, “was offset by higher capital costs in the current period over the prior year.”

The retailer opened two stores during the quarter, at Renaissance Place in Highland Park, Ill., and at Utica Square in Tulsa, Okla. It now operates 98 stores and plans to open an additional eight stores before November 2000.