Expect flashy ads and big promotions pushing back-to-school sales to end this week.
Orange County’s two major retailers are reporting mixed results so far for the critical selling period, which is second only to Christmas in importance for stores.
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. posted strong gains with August same-store sales jumping 8.7%, beating forecasts.
Meanwhile, Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. continued to struggle. The teen apparel retailer saw same-store sales drop 9.4% in August, worse than Wall Street had expected.
The local retailers mirrored a national trend of mixed results.
Gap Inc. reported a 7% drop in same-store sales for August. Hot Topic Inc. was off 6%.
On the up side, Ambercrombie & Fitch saw a 6% gain, while American Eagle Outfitters jumped 11% last month.
Wet Seal is enjoying the fruits of a turnaround. The retailer has made big improvements, particularly at its Arden B. clothing chain, said Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray Carret & Co.
Arden B.’s first collection under new general merchandise manager Greg Garnette “had an impressive start,” Beder said.
Stores had a “renewed emphasis on color” and displayed coordinated looks that “drove traffic,” Beder said.
“Arden B. will gain further traction in 2006 and beyond as the division continues to return to its roots as a wardrobe-driven purveyor of sophisticated looks for the fashion-forward woman,” Beder said.
PacSun is working on its own turnaround.
Spokesman Gar Jackson said the retailer continues to focus on improving the “customer’s shopping experience” at its dominant PacSun chain, which sells surfwear brands, including Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. and Irvine-based Billabong USA.
The company changed its marketing displays, including adding mannequins to show off clothes that otherwise might be tucked away on a rack, Jackson said.
The company also introduced more shoes, including from Vans Inc. and Nike Inc., Jackson said.
Gerry Chaney, Pacific Sunwear’s chief financial officer, said in a conference call that the company was “disappointed with August (same-store sales),” but felt it was “entering September in a much stronger position” since same-store sales improved each week of August.
PacSun’s same-stores sales in August were off 8.9%. The company’s smaller hip-hop clothing chain d.e.m.o. saw a 14% drop.
PacSun saw slow sales of men’s clothes, including denim, T-shirts and accessories. Girls did well with basic denim, but not so hot with fleece, accessories and fashion denim.
At d.e.m.o., guys had misses with woven tops, T-shirts and denim, and did better with polos.
Girls struggled with tank tops, tube tops, shoes and T-shirts.
Wunder Trio
Laguna Beach-based WunderMarx nabbed three clients.
The marketing shop was tapped by Newport Beach-based GloNav Inc., a maker of global positioning system chips, to push its corporate launch.
Fullerton-based Ketiv Technologies Inc., a maker of design software, chose WunderMarx to promote its brand and its 20th anniversary.
And the Diabetes Center at the University of California, Irvine, also tapped WunderMarx to design a Web site and e-marketing campaign.
The work is set to include branding, marketing, public relations and message development, according to WunderMarx.
In other news, the shop plans to move to new space in Tustin this month.
Marshall Helmet Work
Costa Mesa-based Marshall Advertising and Design just hooked a client: Scorpion Sports Inc.
The shop was named agency of record and plans to help Lake Forest-based Scorpion promote its motorcycle helmets.
Marshall already started work on a print ad campaign that’s set to debut nationally this fall.
Three-year-old Scorpion tapped Marshall because of the shop’s experience in street and dirt motorcycles and snowmobiles, said Eric Anderson, Scorpion’s vice president of sales and marketing.
Marshall’s other clients include Cypress-based Yamaha Motor Corp. USA.
Truthiness
Tustin-based Truth, an advertising and marketing shop, recently hired someone to help with a new account.
The agency hired an account executive to work with Brea-based CosmiKids Inc. on its marketing, advertising and branding, according to Gary Szenderski, vice president of account services at Truth.
CosmiKids, which offers kids programs, recently tapped Truth after reviewing a few other shops, Szenderski said.
Truth also hired two others for its studio and interactive departments, Szenderski said.
Pushing Irvine
RiechesBaird recently created a Web site designed to draw more businesses to Irvine.
The site, www.onlyinirvine.com, plays up the benefits of working or relocating a business to Irvine (RiechesBaird’s home city).
The city of Irvine, Destination Irvine, the Irvine Chamber of Commerce and The Irvine Company teamed up to put the site together. Links to the groups can be found on the site.
Ryan Rieches, RiechesBaird cofounder, said the groups already were clients.
“We identified that they had similar goals and objectives in retaining and attracting business in Irvine,” Rieches said. “It just made sense to recommend a collaboration.”
The site includes news about the city, links to different groups, profiles of companies that recently moved to Irvine, contacts for available office space and more.
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