Swiss misses cheer Claire’s
European growth for accessories retailer
Switzerland has been the star performer for accessories retailer Claire’s in a month which saw its European stores outperform the core US business.
Claire’s has reported group comparable store sales for the four weeks to November 27 up by 3 per cent, compared to six per cent growth in the same period last year. Total sales for the month increased by 7 per cent to $97m.
Comparable store sales grew in the low single digits in the Claire’s North America chain compared to mid single digit growth in Claire’s International. The Icing by Claire’s clothing chain saw growth in the low double digits.
Bonnie Schaefer, co-chairman and co-CEO said: “We remain pleased with the sales performance of our international operation, consisting of our stores in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
“The latter three countries have registered dramatic improvements over the past year, and several of the Company’s highest performing stores can be found in Switzerland.”
While steady growth is projected to continue in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, they are now coming up against tougher comparisons after a strong year of growth.
Bonnie Schaefer continued: “The United Kingdom is continuing to register improvements, which we expect to extend into next year. The same is true in France, which is beginning to show signs of a turnaround. We believe that our European stores are well positioned for Christmas with inventory our customers will find attractive and fairly priced, and accordingly, expect this holiday season to outperform last year. ”
In the US, Claire’s has already indicated that November sales were below expectations. Marla Schaefer, co-chairman and co-CEO said: “Promotional offerings over the Thanksgiving weekend moved briskly as did our Christmas merchandise. Taking a cue from those results, we will be shifting our promotional strategy in December, to spread out promotions more evenly throughout the month in lieu of weighting them primarily towards the back end.
“We have not, however, increased the overall level of promotional activity planned for the month. The number of transactions recorded this November exceeded last November, however, the increase did not meet our internal projections. As always, December remains the most important month of the quarter, although increased gift card sales also bodes well for January.”
