Chico's president and CEO Scott A. Edmonds said thatbrand momentum and real estate opportunitiesencouraged the accelerated growth of White House |Black Market. Currently, the company operates 196White House | Black Market front-line stores and sixWhite House | Black Market outlet stores.
"White House | Black Market exceeded our expectations"for the third quarter from a sales and marginstandpoint," Edmonds said during the company's thirdquarter earnings conference call. "We're excited aboutour performance."
The White House | Black Market brand is one of threebrands under the Chico's umbrella--the other brandsinclude the namesake brand and Soma by Chico's, anintimate apparel retailer launched just over one year ago.
Of the three brands, White House | Black Market brandis achieving the most robust growth. For example, thechain reported same-store sales growth of more than50% for the third quarter, according to Edmonds.Collectively, the company reported same-store salesincreases of 16% for the quarter.
During the third quarter, Chico's posted record salesof $359 million, an increase of 33% compared to the$270 million achieved for the same period last year.Net income rose 43.5% to $53 million, or 29 cents perdiluted share, compared to net income of $37 million,or 21 cents per a diluted share for the third quarterlast year. Moreover, the company achieved an operatingmargin of 22.9% during the third quarter, representingthe best operating margin since it went public in1993.
In addition to the new White House | Black Marketstores, Chico's plans to open 60 Chico's stores and 20Soma by Chico's stores. Currently, the companyoperates 498 Chico's front-line stores, 29 Chico'soutlet stores and 15 Soma by Chico's stores.
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