The Acorn stores, which Kalamazoo, MI-based Gilmore Brothers Inc. sold to CBK for about $7 million, join the retailer's two other brands, 463 Christopher & Banks stores, and 150 C.J. Banks stores. Acorn caters primarily to middle-aged women at both mall and non-mall locations, typically offering clothes at higher price points than the other two stores, more directly competing with Talbots or Chico's.

Regarding the acquisition, Credit Suisse First Boston analysts Richard N. Baum and Tracy Kogan write, "We reiterate our Outperform rating. Serving the attractive mature woman demographic segment largely underserved by specialty stores, Acorn is a good fit for CBK and provides the company with a potential future leg of growth, beyond Christopher & Banks and CJ Banks."

By contrast, Robin Murchison, an analyst with Jefferies & Co., tells GSR that she would prefer that CBK gets its base on track before it makes acquisitions. "Management has made some changes to the merchandise mix since late last year, but apparently not enough to boost same store sales this year, at a time when fashion sales have been extremely strong," she says.