1-800-Flowers.com Holiday Below Expectations
Westbury, NY-based 1-800-Flowers.com (Nasdaq: FLWS), which mails the HearthSong, Plow & Hearth, Magic Cabin Dolls and The Popcorn Factory catalog titles, anticipates an 8% revenue increase of $230 million for the quarter ended Dec. 26. But the company expects to report earnings for the fiscal second quarter that are below management’s expectations, yet slightly above last year on a tax-adjusted basis.
Online sales for the quarter are expected to grow about 18%, while telephone sales are expected to be down slightly. The home and garden gift category grew more than 10% in December, reversing its recent negative sales trend.
Holiday Sales Rise 12% at Tiffany
New York-based upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) said net sales in the holiday period (Nov. 1–Dec. 31) increased 12% to $673.8 million.
Direct marketing sales rose 11% to $72.0 million. Combined Internet and catalog sales rose 13%, which included higher growth in e-commerce sales due to an increased average order size. The business sales division rose 3%.
U.S. retail sales rose 11% to $340.8 million, largely due to a comparable store sales increase of 8% (up 10% in November and 7% in December). Sales in the New York flagship store rose 11% and comparable branch store sales increased 7%.
Comparable store sales rose 6%, international retail sales increased 12% to $242.2 million, and specialty retail sales increased 47% to $18.8 million, partly reflecting sales growth in Little Switzerland store chain. Specialty retail sales also include results from Tiffany’s first two Iridesse stores, which focus exclusively on pearl jewelry.
Lackluster Holiday Sales for Williams-Sonoma
Weakness in the Pottery Barn brand led San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) to report “disappointing” holiday sales for the eight-week holiday period ended Dec. 26.
Pottery Barn saw a “weaker than expected consumer response” to its holiday merchandising strategies in its direct and retail businesses, according to the company. Besides its eponymous brand, Williams-Sonoma includes Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen, Hold Everything, West Elm, and the new Williams-Sonoma Home.
Net revenue increased 7% to $775.9 million. Direct-to-customer net sales for the holiday period increased 9% to $235.5 million, compared with $216.7 million for the eight-week holiday period last year. Retail net sales for the period increased 7% to $501.1 million, compared with $468.9 million last year. Comparable store sales were flat from last year.
“Also contributing to the shortfall was a significant year-over-year increase in pre-holiday gift card sales and a greater than expected shift in retail sales into the week after Christmas–which is not included in our eight-week reporting period,” said CEO Ed Mueller in a company statement.