"We continue to capture market share in the athletic footware business in the mall," said Alan Cohen, chairman and CEO of the company, during its third quarter earnings call on Wednesday. "We're also encouraged by the strength of the footware category, which showed an 11% growth during the quarter." He added that that growth represented the eighth consecutive quarter in which footware comps grew for the company.
"Driving this growth are running, basketball and sport casual," Cohen noted. "Running especially. In the third quarter comp sales of men's and women's running footware increased 20%, primarily led by Nike products."
Things weren't as upbeat in the company's softgood categories, with Cohen noting a 3% comp sales decline during this quarter, compared with a 30% comp gain in 3Q 2003. "Overall, licensed sales continued to decline, because of decreasing demand for that fashion," he said.
The company reported a strong holiday selling season. "Our sales for the important holiday season were very strong and exceeded plan," said Cohen. "Comparable store sales for the five-week period ended January 1, 2005 increased 9% on top of a 22% gain for the same period last year."
Currently, Finish Line operates 592 stores nationwide, up from 532 stores a year ago. In the first three quarters of its fiscal year, it opened 65 new stores of a planned 71, remodeled 26 existing stores and closed four. In fiscal 2006, the company plans to open 70 new stores, remodel 25, and close three to five.
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