Aurora, IL-based motivational products marketer Successories (Nasdaq:SCES) reported net income of $430,000 for its fiscal year ended Feb. 3, compared to a net loss of $1.1 million for the prior fiscal year. Sales for the 53 weeks ended Feb. 3 were $52 million compared to $51.7 million reported for last year’s 52-week fiscal year. What’s more, direct marketing sales, which include catalog and Web sales, increased 16.3%, to $33.6 million for the fiscal year.
As for its quarter ended Feb. 3, net income was $673,000, compared with $522,000 for the same quarter last year. Sales in the quarter were $15.5 million vs. $16.0 million for the prior year 13 week fourth quarter. Direct marketing sales increased 11.8% during the fourth quarter, to $9.6 million. Company-owned retail store sales declined 2.8% to $3.7 million on a comparable store basis and 7.1% overall to $4.1 million, reflecting the softness throughout most of the retail industry during the holidays.
Sandpoint, ID-based women’s apparel, jewelry, gifts and home merchandise cataloger Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR), announced net sales from the company’s direct channel, which includes catalog and Internet, increased 17.8% to $128.1 million for the quarter ended March 3, compared to $108.7 million for the quarter last year. Quarterly Web sales surged 182.9%, to $41.3 million, from $14.6 million for the 1999 fourth quarter, and represented 29.7% of the company’s net sales. Total net sales for the quarter increased 23.4%, to $139.0 million from $112.7 million last year. Net income for quarter slid, however, to $800,000 compared with net income of $6.0 million for the fiscal 1999 fourth quarter.
Coldwater blames the quarterly earnings shortfall on several factors. “As previously announced, lower-than-expected customer response to our full-price, early spring merchandise, on higher catalog circulation, clearly affected the strong top- and bottom-line results we delivered in the preceding three fiscal quarters,” said CEO Georgia Shonk-Simmons in a statement. “As reported, we also ramped up clearance activity to ensure that year-end inventories would be in line with our revised plans, but that increased activity, combined with increased mailings, negatively impacted our gross margins and selling, general and administrative expenses.”
For Coldwater’s fiscal year 2000 ended March 3, net income was $13.2 million, compared with $13.7 million, excluding the $0.05 earnings per diluted share impact of the sale of the Milepost Four men’s catalog, reported for fiscal year 1999. Net sales for fiscal year 2000 were up 26.8% to $458.4 million from $361.6 million for fiscal year 1999. The direct channel’s net sales for the year 2000 increased 22.1%, to $426.7 million, from $349.4 million for fiscal 1999. Net sales via the Internet were up 289.3% to $112.9 million for fiscal 2000, compared with $29.0 million for fiscal 1999.