Initially, I was relieved. There was no conference call to listen to and try to take notes faster than they could talk. The press release was one page. The Appendix 4E was only 60 pages and the Investor Presentation power point didn’t really add anything to it. I thought I’d get off easy on this one. Turns out it’s […]
The Numbers In the quarter ended July 31st, Zumiez showed some improvement over the same quarter last year. Sales grew 14.7% from $85.2 million to $97.7 million. Comparable store sales were up 9.3% and 24 new stores (net of closings) have been opened since August 1, 2009. “The increase in comparable stores sales was primarily driven […]
The chart below is something you need to see to have some medium to long term perspective on the economy and the job market. It comes under the heading of something you won’t see in the mainstream media. I have finally been doing this long enough to know that people don’t always like it when […]
Billabong’s annual report and associated documents released around it contain a wealth of information. Some of the questions asked by the analysts in the conference call, and the answers provided, were particularly interesting. But equally important, there are some insights into general market conditions, the evolution of the retail environment and issues with Chinese production. It’s a lot […]
Orange 21 turned a profit of $408,000 in the quarter ended June 30 after losing $254,000 in the same quarter last year. For six months, a loss of $1.058 million was reduced to $529,000. For the quarter, they did it by increasing sales 4.5% and increasing their gross profit margin from 45.9% to 57.8%. And they did it […]
Just for a moment, hypothetically, let’s think about PacSun’s turnaround strategy, whether it might make sense for them to start carrying hard goods, and how other companies might react. PacSun’s Strategy That PacSun is in the middle of a turnaround is hardly disputable, if only because their management has characterized it that way. And in my […]
Nike came out with their 10K annual report maybe 10 days ago. Because we’re in the habit of focusing on the press release and the conference call which happens much sooner, nobody seems to have paid any attention to this 145 page document. But never fear, I’m a glutton for punishment and there were a few interesting […]
I swear I wrote as fast as I possibly could during the conference call and hope I got all the good stuff. The press release was pretty much lacking in detailed management discussion and there were no footnotes to the financial statements. I know probably nobody will care by the time the actual quarterly report is filed […]
VF Corporation, the owner of Vans, Nautica, North Face, Reef and a whole lot of other brands released their results last week for the quarter ended June 30. They also held a conference call I listened to. They had a strong quarter and we’ll get to the numbers. Oh hell, let’s start with a summary […]
I stole the chart below from Clusterstock (It’s not stealing if you confess, is it?) and wanted to share it with you. Look at the unemployment rate for our prime customers; the young workers aged 16-24. It’s close to 20% as of May. Now, if you’re in skate you go younger than 16 and if you’re in apparel, […]
