Birks & Mayors holiday season net sales up

Jan 11, 2008 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) -- BMJ | news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- Jewelry retailer Birks & Mayors has reported that net sales increased 5.7% to $96.8 million during the fiscal 2008 holiday season period from November 4, 2007 through December 29, 2007, compared to $91.6 million during last year's holiday season period from November 5, 2006 through December 30, 2006.

The company said that this increase was primarily driven by the opening of two new stores in the US, the addition of two stores in Canada associated with the Brinkhaus acquisition and the translation of Canadian sales at higher rates, offset by a comparable store sales decrease of 7% during this year's holiday season.

According to Birks & Mayors, the decrease in comparable store sales was driven by a 5% decrease in the company's comparable store sales in its Canadian market, while comparable store sales in the company's US market decreased by 10% from the prior year. These decreases were primarily the result of decreased store traffic experienced in both the Canadian and US markets during the holiday period.

Thomas Andruskevich, president and CEO, said: "We were disappointed with our holiday sales results. While net sales increased during our fiscal 2008 holiday season, comparable store sales were below our expectations driven by declines in store traffic patterns that worsened as the holiday season progressed. We continue to operate in a challenging economic environment and will continue to operate the business in a manner consistent with these conditions."

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