Net Income Declines at Talbots
Hingham, MA-based apparel cataloger/retailer The Talbots (NYSE: TLB) blames “severe weather” in February for crimping its quarterly sales. Fortunately, a better-than-anticipated March helped offset the weakness. April results were on-plan.
All told, sales for the quarter ended May 3 were $395.0 million, up 1% from $391.3 million for the first fiscal quarter of last year. Catalog sales fell 5%, to $65.8 million from $69.6 million. Comparable store sales declined 4%. Net income fell 16%, to $29.4 million from $35.0 million a year ago.
Restoration Hardware Gets Year Off to a Good Start Corte Madera, CA-based Restoration Hardware (Nasdaq: RSTO) enjoyed an impressive 72% increase in first-quarter catalog and Internet sales, to $11.3 million for the 13 weeks ended May 3. The cataloger/retailer’s total first-quarter net sales rose 18%, to $81.8 million. Comparable store sales increased 12%.
What’s more, the home furnishings marketer chopped its net loss by more than half, to $8.1 million. For the first quarter of fiscal 2002, Restoration Hardware had lost $16.6 million.
Brookstone Catalog Revenue Holds Steady Cataloger/retailer Brookstone, which mails the Hard-to-Find Tools, Gardener’s Eden, and Brookstone catalogs, saw first-quarter direct sales dip to $10.1 million from $10.3 million last year. But the decline followed a slight reduction in catalog circulation. Total sales increased 8%, to $61.0 million from $56.6 million last year. Same-store sales surged 6%.
The Nashua, NH-based company shaved just a bit off its first-quarter net loss, bringing it down to $6.4 million from $6.5 million last year. Because of its seasonal nature, Brookstone typically carries a loss through the first three quarters and makes its profit in the fourth quarter.