Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. has revamped stores in a bid to jump-start sales.
Some on Wall Street are noticing.
The company has improved merchandise and the layout of its stores, said Christine Chen, analyst at Needham Co.
Pacific Sunwear’s sales for girls and young women have “solidly improved” since August, she said.
“We are excited to see signs that a turnaround is beginning,” Chen said.
Chief Executive Sally Frame Kasaks has spearheaded changes, including closing some 75 demo stores that sell urban fashions. The move resulted in a big loss for the recently ended quarter.
For the three months ended Aug. 4, Pacific Sunwear said it lost $10.5 million, versus a profit of $9.7 million a year earlier.
One-time charges aside, another analyst, Brian J. Tunick of J.P. Morgan, contends Pacific Sunwear’s operating costs still are “shockingly high.”
He downgraded the company’s shares last week.
As of August, the company had 840 PacSun stores selling surfwear, 117 PacSun outlets, 152 demo stores and nine One Thousand Steps shoe stores for a total of 1,118.
Targeting Online Advertisers
Santa Ana’s Freedom Orange County Information, a unit of Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc. that publishes the Orange County Register and other titles, is going after more online advertisers.
The company recently improved the video offering on three of its Web sites, which include news segments sponsored by advertisers.
People can share videos on ocregister.com, SqueezeOC.com and OCVarsity.com. Plus, people can submit their own videos.
Joe Brenneman, Freedom Orange County’s vice president of advertising sales, said the move is expected to let advertisers reach “Web-savvy” readers and widen the Register’s exposure.
Plus, Brenneman said the technology is expected to lure more visitors to the sites.
Branded videos are sold to advertisers as a three-part package, which includes a 15-second video advertisement.
Freedom Communications has been making a national push to keep readers as the newspaper industry faces an advertising sales slump.
360 Lands Client
360 Business Consulting in Mission Viejo picked up a client.
The shop, which does consulting on sales, marketing and public relations, landed Los Angeles-based OnDemand Solutions Inc., which develops software for companies.
Julie Citroen, president and chief operating officer at OnDemand, said 360 should help the company bring in business and raise brand awareness.
“Given the number of software companies right on our doorstep, we would like to establish a strong local presence,” Citroen said.
Straps Sell Sandals
Irvine’s Sanuk is getting a lot of buzz for its new sandals.
Dac Clark, principal at C & C; Cos., a clothing factory operator that has the license to make Sanuk shoes, said the brand’s “Sidewalk Surfers” has generated interest.
The sandals for men and women have uppers,the straps holding the sole in place,made of canvas in fun prints, such as stripes and stars.
“They are selling out everywhere,” Clark said.
The line is helping Sanuk grow “very quickly,” he said.
C & C; is on the hunt for more licenses.
The company has a void now that the license to make Rusty clothes and accessories shifted to Irvine-based La Jolla Group, which makes clothes and other garb for O’Neill and Lost. About 60 C & C; people were let go in the move.
“C & C; has always grown by developing up-and-coming brands,” Clark said.
The company is about to “finalize” a license with a wakeboard company and is in talks with two other undisclosed companies, Clark said.
Denim Push
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. is trying to lure more shoppers with store promotions.
The girls and young women’s clothing retailer revamped its denim selection as part of a “big jean sale,” said analyst Eric Beder at Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
“The big jean sale is also bringing more traffic into stores, furthering denim sales,” Beder said in a recent report.
Whether it will be enough to offset a slowdown in shoppers, which the company is seeing in the current quarter, is unclear.
Wet Seal recently warned investors about profits for this quarter, offering a forecast below what Wall Street had expected.
Sales at stores open at least a year could be flat to down 3% for the quarter, Wet Seal said.
To offset the downturn, the company is also doing some promotions on its Web site, including free ground shipping on all orders and playing up new back-to-school clothes.
