Second-quarter net sales at Warren, PA-based apparel and home decor merchant Blair Corp. (Amex: BL) fell 5%, to $115.0 million from $120.8 million last year. The closing last year of the Crossing Pointe women’s apparel title and the Allegheny Trail b-to-b business accounted for $1.3 million of the difference. On the other side of the ledger, net income plummeted to $233,000 from $6.1 million a year ago. The company noted that higher unit sales volume was offset by lower average selling prices as a result of “ongoing price-point repositioning.”
On the bright side, second-quarter e-commerce sales rose 19%, to $27.0 million for the three months ended June 30. Website traffic increased 22%, conversion rates rose 6%.
Earlier this month Blair replaced the last of its traditional letter mailings with a net catalog highlighting best-sellers.