Ups and Downs For Coldwater

Net sales for women’s apparel cataloger/retailer Coldwater Creek increased 17.1%, to $253.5 million for the second quarter ended Aug. 4. But net income for the Sandpoint, ID-based merchant tumbled 27.6%, to $8.7 million. Same-store sales decreased 6%. Net sales from the company’s retail segment rose 23.5%, to $177.7 million. Catalog/Internet net sales increased 4.5%, to $75.8 million up from $72.6 million. Specifically, Internet sales increased 9.8%, to $54.8 million, but catalog sales slipped 7.3%, to $21.0 million. “While we are disappointed with our second quarter earnings, revenue was in line with our expectations,” CEO Coldwater Creek Dennis Pence said in a release. “As communicated in the previous quarter, we were prepared for the possibility of continued low-traffic trends and the challenges of a highly promotional environment in the specialty apparel retail sector.”