June 1st, 2012

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American Eagle Outfitters names Boland as CFO

Friday, June 1st, 2012

US clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters has appointed Mary Boland as EVP, chief financial and administrative officer.

Boland,  joins the company from Levi Strauss & Co. where she was senior vice president of finance for the Global Levi’s brand at San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co., will succeed Joan Hilson, whose departure as cfo was revealed two weeks ago. In this role, she led finance and various operating functions across the Americas, Europe and Asia, encompassing both wholesale and retail operations. Prior to joining Levi’s in 2006, Boland was CFO at General Motors.

Prior to joining Levi’s in 2006, Boland was with General Motors Corp., where she rose to cfo of North America during a more than 20-year tenure.

Boland will join AEO July 9 as executive vice president and chief financial and administrative officer. She will take responsibility for finance, investor relations, merchandise planning and allocation, strategy planning and other administrative functions.

“Mary brings 30 years of broad-based financial and operating experience, with a proven track record in the global apparel industry,” said CEO Robert Hanson. “Mary is an influential, disciplined financial leader, with a strong ROI focus. I’m confident she will have a positive impact at AEO as we look to strengthen our financial results and achieve consistent, long-term profitable growth.”

Hanson joined AEO as ceo on Jan. 30 following more than two decades with Levi’s, most recently as global president of the Levi’s brand.

AEO disclosed Hilson’s departure at the same time it said it had decided to shutter its struggling 77kids children’s retail concept.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, Finance, Labor, News, Operations, Retail | No Responses »

Kohl’s May Comps. Down 4.2%

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Kohl’s Corp. reported a 4.2 percent decline in May 2012 comparable-store sales, with the four-week total sales dropping 2.6 percent to $1.34 billion from $1.37 billion a year before.

For the year-to-date period, total sales went up 0.8 percent and comparable store sales slipped 0.9 percent.

Kohl’s chairman, president and chief executive, commented, “May sales were lower than our expectations and, as a result, we now expect second quarter comparable store sales to be modestly negative. From a line of business perspective, we saw strength in Accessories. Our Men’s and Women’s businesses also outperformed the company average. The South Central and West were the strongest regions.”

Posted in Activewear, Apparel, Brand, Finance, Men, News, Retail, accessories, ladies | No Responses »

Sir Philip Green’s firm pays family £16m and threatens to sue rival Asos

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Arcadia tycoon Sir Philip Green’s retail empire paid out £16m to his wife last year, as the company swung from profit to loss and has rounded on online fashion rival Asos over its use of Topshop branding on its website, warning that he will sue the company if it does not stop taking “unfair advantage of our trademark”.

His holding company saw its tax bill fall sharply, accounts showed, after it posted a loss of £120m, in contrast to the previous year’s profit of £213m.

It came as Sir Philip, in a separate development, threatened legal proceedings against Asos, his rival online retailer, for taking “unfair advantage of our trade mark”. In a sign of how fiercely Sir Philip is fighting for customers in the tough fashion market, he said Asos had to immediately take Topshop’s name down from its website, otherwise he would sue.

The legal letter to Asos was sent on the same day that Sir Philip filed the accounts for Taveta Investments, his holding company which owns all his shop chains such as Bhs, TopShop, Burton as well as various property investments.

The company, as it had previously announced, swung from a profit to a loss. This meant its tax bill, in the year to August 27 2011, fell from £70.9m to £2.83m.

The accounts also show that Sir Philip’s wife, Lady Green, “and her immediate family” received an interest payment of £16m. This was because during 2009 Taveta bought Bhs, which was paid for via the issue of loan notes to companies controlled by Lady Green and her family.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, E-tail, Finance, News, Operations, Retail | No Responses »

Ascena Retail Q3 net income down on acquisition costs

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Ascena Retail Group Inc. Thursday reported a lower profit for the third quarter, as its bottom line was impacted by costs related to Charming Shoppes acquisition. Meanwhile, revenues for the quarter grew on strong same-store and new store sales.

The New York-based retailer, which operates the dressbarn, maurices and Justice brands, said yesterday that net income fell 4.6% to US$49.4m, or $0.31 per share, from $51.8 million or $0.32 per share last year, which it said was entirely attributable to the $6.8m in costs relating to the pending acquisition of Charming Shoppes.

For the quarter, Ascena incurred a charge of $0.03 per share related to the pending acquisition of Charming Shoppes. On average, ten analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.36 per share for the third quarter.

Early this month, Ascena agreed to buy Charming Shoppes, the owner of Lane Bryant brand, for $890 million in cash.

The women’s clothing retailer said its net sales for the quarter grew 8 percent to $783.3 million from $722.8 million last year. Analysts estimated revenues of $786.70 million for the quarter.

Sales growth was driven mainly by a 5 percent increase in same-store sales, and as well on strong growth in sales from new stores and e-commerce.

Gross margins for the quarter dropped to 43.4 percent from 44.0 percent last year. Operating margins declined to 10.9 percent from 12.0 percent last year, hurt by increased promotional markdowns as well as higher selling and general expenses.

Chief Executive David Jaffe said, “Our overall financial performance in the quarter was in-line with expectations and reflects the continued challenging marketplace for retailers and consumers. Our ability to perform well despite these pressures validates the strength of our product, the loyalty of our customers and our strategy to build a compelling, diversified business.”

Moving ahead, Ascena reaffirmed its earnings guidance for the fiscal year ending July 2012 in the range of $1.37 to $1.40 per share. The guidance excludes Charming Shoppes acquisition, which is expected to close by mid-June.

Analysts currently expect earnings of $1.39 per share for the fiscal year 2012.

ASNA closed Thursday’s trading at $18.93, down $0.59 or 3.02%, on a volume of 3.2 million shares on the Nasdaq.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, Finance, News, Operations, Retail, ladies | No Responses »

Gap comparable sales climb 2% in May

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Specialty clothing retailer Gap Inc today (31 May) reported a 2% increase in comparable sales for May, after positive feedback from its summer products.

Net sales for the four weeks ended 26 May were up 3.8% to to US$1.10bn, compared to $1.0bn the same period last year.

The San Francisco based retailer posted comparable sales gains in the majority of its North American units, including 6% at Gap, 8% at Banana Republic. Gap’s international business increased 1%, while Old Navy North America declined 1%.

“We’re pleased with overall customer response to summer product in May which helped us deliver positive comparable sales for the company,” said Glenn Murphy, chairman and chief executive officer.

Year-to-date net sales were $4.59bn for the 17 weeks ended 26 May, up 5% compared with net sales of $4.36bn for the same period last year. The company’s year-to-date comparable sales climbed 3% compared with a 3% decrease last year.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, Finance, Men, News, Retail, ladies | No Responses »

Dixons etail boss joins All Saints’ global push

Friday, June 1st, 2012

All Saints has appointed former Dixons ecommerce head Esther Soto as its first global ecommerce director, as it seeks to position itself as an international brand.

Soto, who joined last month from the electricals retailer, where she was head of ecommerce strategy and planning, will sit on All Saints’ senior management team and work closely with head of ecommerce James Wintle.

Her hiring is the latest in a raft of head office appointments at the premium chain as private equity owner Lion Capital improves operations. Including Soto, there have now been five appointments since the start of the year.

These include the appointment of Deborah Keiser, previously at GAP and US lingerie chain Victoria’s Secret, as global supply chain director and Tracey Mann, formerly retail director at Karen Millen, who came on board earlier this year as retail director for UK and Europe.

Earlier this year, Matthew Corin took the position of global buying and merchandising director. He was formerly Hugo Boss vice-president for buying and merchandising for the Americas region.

Following Lion’s acquisition of All Saints a year ago there has been significant management change. Chief executive Stephen Craig resigned in September 2011 after a falling out with chairman and founder Kevin Stanford.

Financial director Peter Wood stepped in as interim chief executive following Craig’s departure. All Saints’ US operation is being headed by interim chief executive Paul Seston after Paul McAdam left in December.

Posted in Apparel, Brand, Labor, News, Operations, Retail | No Responses »