Weather Hurts Charming Shoppes' Q4 Comps

BENSALEM, PA-Unseasonable warm weather for much of the winter hurt Charming Shoppe’s fourth-quarter sales executives say, reducing the demand for cold-weather attire. “We didn’t have any reason for a woman to buy a sweater because she didn’t need one until February,” said Dorrit Bern, chairman, president and CEO of the company, during its quarterly conference call.

The operator of plus-size women’s chains, such as Lane Bryant, posted a year-over-year same-store sales drop of 1% during the quarter, which ended Jan. 27. Meanwhile, net sales rose 9%, to $874 million, and net income was $24.9 million, up 30% from the same year-ago period.

For the current quarter, management expects more disappointment from the now-cold weather, predicting flat same-store sales. “Spring has not sprung,” Bern says. “When we have seen the sun appear in part of the United States, we see a great uplift on our business.”