Thursday, specialty retailer Wet Seal, Inc. (WTSLA) reported a 3.6% decline in sales for the four-week ended November 28, 2009. The Foothill Ranch, California headquartered company said comparable store sales for November 2009 declined 5%, compared to a 13.9% decrease in the comparable period last year.
The company said total net sales for the four week period ended November 28 were $44.4 million, down 3.6% from the same month of the previous year. Sales at Wet Seal stores for November declined 2.5% to $36.6 million, while sales at Arden B stores declined 8.7% to $7.8 million compared to the same period last year.
Comparable store sales Wet Seal stores for November 2009 declined 5.8% compared to the decline of 9.7% recorded in the previous year. Comparable store sales at Arden B stores for November 2009 declined 1.5%, while in the prior year, the company had recored a decline of 27.9%.
Ed Thomas, president and chief executive officer of Wet Seal said, "After experiencing a slow start to the month, we were encouraged by improved comparable store sales performance over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in our Wet Seal division. Promotional levels through November remained consistent with our expectations at Wet Seal and Arden B, and we are pleased with our inventory positions in both operating divisions going into December."
As of November 28, 2009, the company operated a total of 504 stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, including 424 Wet Seal stores and 80 Arden B stores.
WTSLA closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $3.02.
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