We’ll see next week how PacSun and Zumiez did when they report third quarter numbers, but Urban Outfitters is showing that all is not dead in the teen clothing sector. They reported “record third-quarter earnings of $59 million, a 31 percent gain.”
The company cited higher profit margins and a tight control of sales-and-administrative expenses. Going into the key holiday-shopping season, the company said it has maintained “rigorous management of inventory and expenses.” In the recent quarter, tighter control of inventory meant fewer items marked down for discount sale.
Yeah, we’re doing well because they think they are geniuses. Maybe.
Looks like Bob McKnight and the boys at Quiksilver have finally dumped Rossignol off on Chartreuse & Mont Blanc for EU30 million in cash and a EU10 million note, according to Forbes. As we mentioned before, it’s way less than originally planned, but at least they’re out.
“The completion of this sale represents the culmination of our efforts to eliminate our exposure to hardgoods manufacturing,” Chief Executive Robert McKnight Jr., said in a statement. “We’re delighted that we can now return to our roots, do what we do best and once again fully concentrate our efforts on our core apparel and footwear brands Quiksilver, Roxy and DC.”
And it looks like that is going to take an awesome amount of concentration.
Carleton Curtis and the crew from Transworld Skateboarding went to Rob Dyrdek’sMonster RD 1.5 shoe release party at the DC store on Melrose so we wouldn’t have to. Thanks, Carleton.
When the board of Orange 21, the publicly traded company that is Spy Optic, denied a request by No Fear Retail to merge businesses we thought this would be over.
Now No Fear Retail has sent another letter outlining why it thinks the board is doing Orange 21 shareholders a disservice by not considering the deal. Here’s a piece of it:
Frankly, we have been surprised by the manner in which the process has been handled to date, given the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities to act in the best interests of Orange 21’s stockholders. No rationale was provided in the Company’s November 4th 8-K filing for the Board’s decision to not pursue negotiations nor was any rationale communicated directly to No Fear Retail. This lack of communication is especially disappointing given the fact that No Fear Retail is one of Orange 21’s largest customers. We hope the Board will reconsider our proposal and enter into meaningful negotiations regarding a merger of the two entities for the benefit of Orange 21’s stockholders. Time is critical in the current climate and, given our understanding and historical involvement in the business, we stand ready to move quickly to negotiate and close a transaction.”
One small deal that may be in the works would be the sale of Quiksilver, a maker of surfer-style clothing, to Nike or another strategic acquirer. Quicksilver [sic] has retained Morgan Stanley to advise on its strategic alternatives.
And seeing as Quik’s stock closed well below the $2 mark again today it could be a good deal, as long as Nike doesn’t mind buying over a billion in debt.
For more than a year there has been talk about Spy Optic’s co-founder Mark Simo’s plan (and then denied plan) to merge his privately held No Fear retail business with Orange 21, the publicly traded company that owns Spy Optics. All along we thought it seemed like an odd strategy.
This request to negotiate a deal, which didn’t have a clearly identified strategic rationale and requires financing that apparently isn’t in place had potential to be very distracting at a time when Orange 21 is busy just running its business in a difficult economy. Making the letter public didn’t help, and you have to wonder what Spy Optics’ customers think about it.
Same-store sales for its Urban Outfitters brand climbed 17 percent, while Anthropologie same-store sales edged up 2 percent and Free People same-store sales increased 4 percent.
The street is not so happy with Zumiez after the company released a same-store sales drop of 13.1 percent in October. Not that it was surprising. It was just lower than expected.
That compares with a same-store sales gain 5.1 percent for the comparable period last year. . . . Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected same-store sales to fall 6.5 percent for the four weeks ended Nov. 1.
Net sales were up 1 percent, but with the economy and a “highly promotion retail atmosphere” we really can’t fault them. The stoked closed down 76 cents at $8.59.
Andrea Guerra, chief executive officer of Luxottica Group, commented: “This is an especially important development for our Group and a turning point for our business in India. On the one hand, it allows us to become from day one a key player in one of the most promising retail markets for premium and luxury brands working side-by-side with the leading real estate developer in the market. At the same time, it is an opportunity to further strengthen the positioning of our key brands, with an expected benefit for our entire business in that market.”
The chain already has 2,000 stores worldwide. Apparently it’s very sunny in India.
We’ll see next week how PacSun and Zumiez did when they report third quarter numbers, but Urban Outfitters is showing that all is not dead in the teen clothing sector. They reported “record third-quarter earnings of $59 million, a 31 percent gain.”
