November, being the starting month of highly anticipated key holiday selling season for retailers, turned out to be a month of weak sales for several casual and specialty apparel retailers this year. Prominent names in the sector such as Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF), American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) and Children's Place Retail Stores, Inc. (PLCE) witnessed lower comparable store sales and net sales for the month of November despite promotional events and the Thanksgiving Day sales. Women's specialty retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) was the only exception that reported a flat same-store sales and a 2% rise in total sales for the month.
Abercrombie & Fitch
Casual apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Thursday reported a 17% decline in its comparable store sales for the month of November 2009.
For the four-week period ended on November 28, Abercrombie & Fitch posted a net sales of $245.7 million, down 8% from $267.3 million in the prior-year period. Total company direct-to-consumer net merchandise sales increased 3% to $24.5 million.
Abercrombie & Fitch comparable store sales were down 11% in November, while abercrombie comparable store sales decreased 16%. Hollister Co. and RUEHL reported comparable store sales declines of 23% and 15%, respectively.
For the year-to-date, the company's comparable store sales decreased 26%, and net sales declined 19% to $2.272 billion from $2.810 billion last year. Total company direct-to-consumer net merchandise sales were down 7% to $186.2 million in the period.
Abercrombie & Fitch said that at the end of November, it operated 347 Abercrombie & Fitch stores, 209 abercrombie stores, 509 Hollister Co. stores, 27 RUEHL stores and 16 Gilly Hicks stores in the US. The company also operated three Abercrombie & Fitch stores, three abercrombie stores and six Hollister Co. stores in Canada, one Abercrombie & Fitch store and seven Hollister Co. stores in the United Kingdom, and one Abercrombie & Fitch store and one abercrombie store in Italy.
In October 2009, the company's comparable store sales declined 15%, while net sales dropped 5% to $203.4 million. Total company direct-to-consumer net merchandise sales were down 24% to $22.0 million for the month.
For the recently closed third quarter, Abercrombie & Fitch reported a decline in its profit, hurt by sharply lower comparable store sales, despite a one-time benefit. The New Albany, Ohio-based company's third-quarter net income was $38.78 million or $0.44 per share, compared with $63.90 million or $0.72 per share in the year-ago quarter. Net sales decreased 15% to $765.40 million from $896.34 million last year. Comparable store sales were down 22% in the quarter.
On November 30, FBR Capital Markets upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch shares to Outperform from Market Perform and increased its price target to $46 from $39.
Analyst Adrienne Tennant upgraded the stock based on his extraordinarily strong channel checks, particularly at the Hollister division over the Black Friday weekend. All three ANF brands, Adult, Hollister, and Kids, showed a material improvement in both traffic and conversion over this Black Friday weekend versus last year. The most notable change was at the Hollister division, Tennant noted.
ANF is trading at $37.52, down $2.38, on a volume of 5.53 million shares.
American Eagle Outfitters
The company, which offers clothing, accessories and personal care products, Thursday said that its November comparable store sales decreased 2% compared to an 11% decline last year. Total sales were down 1% to $270.6 million from $272.8 million for the four weeks ended on November 29, 2008.
Although store traffic remained choppy throughout November, customers responded well to the holiday assortment. This led the company's best-ever November conversion rate, American Eagle noted. The company also said that sales results over Thanksgiving weekend were positive, delivering a comparable stores sales increase of 3% on reduced promotional activity.
American Eagle's October Comparable store sales were down 5%. Total sales decreased 5% in October to $195.1 million from $204.8 million in the prior-year month. In addition, the company's comparable store sales declined 4% in the third quarter and total sales dropped 1% year-over-year to $749 million.
For the 43-week period, American Eagle's comparable store sales decreased 7%, compared to an 8% decline last year. Total sales were down 3% to $2.29 billion from $2.36 billion in the prior-year period.
American Eagle said that it is comfortable with its inventory position, with increases focused in strong performing businesses, including denim and woven shirts. For the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings per share in the range of $0.29 - $0.32. This guidance excludes any potential investment security or store impairment charges. For the year-ago fourth quarter, the company reported non-GAAP earnings of $0.19 per share, which excluded impairment charges of $0.03 per share related to stores and investment securities and stores.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect a profit of $0.31 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' forecast typically excludes one-time items.
AEO rose $0.15 and is trading at $15.40 on 3.13 million shares.
Cato Corp.
Cato, a specialty retailer of women's fashion apparel and accessories, Thursday reported that its same-store sales for the month of November were flat to the prior year. Total sales rose 2% to $61.6 million from $60.6 million in the year-ago month.
Commenting on November sales, John Cato, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, stated, "November same-store sales were in line with our estimated range for the fourth quarter of down 3% to flat Inventory remains well controlled as we begin the holiday shopping season."
Cato's same-store sales increased 1% for the ten months ended on November 28, 2009, and sales reached $716 million, up 3% from $697.2 million in the prior-year period.
Cato, which operates two divisions "Cato" and "It's Fashion", opened three stores and closed one store in November. As of November 28, 2009, the company operated 1,293 stores, compared to 1,308 stores in the same period last year.
CATO dropped $0.18 and is trading at $18.85, on a volume of 19,074 shares.
Children's Place Retail Stores
Children's Place's November comparable retail sales, which include online sales, declined 13%, compared with a 2% decline last year. The specialty retailer of children's merchandise also said that comparable store sales declined 13% in the U.S. and 18% in Canada, while online sales were down 2%.
For the four-week period ended on November 28, 2009, Children's Place posted net sales of $143.3 million, a decrease of 9% from $156.6 million a year ago.
For the year-to-date period, the company's comparable retail sales dropped 4% in comparison with 5% growth in the previous-year period. Net sales reached $1.32 billion, down 2% from $1.35 billion a year ago.
For the month of October, Children's Place's comparable retail sales including online sales were down 2% following a 10% increase for the same period last year. Net sales totaled $149.8 million, a 3% increase from $144.9 million a year ago.
PLCE is trading at $28.17, down $3.41, on a volume of 1.77 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.