February sales at Foothill Ranch-based mall store operator Wet Seal Inc. did better than analysts expected as lower prices and shifts in clothes helped results.
Wet Seal, which runs stores for teen girls and young women, said sales at stores open at least a year fell 6.6%,lower than the 12% analysts expected and better than January’s 14.7% decline and 12.5% in December.
The company runs 409 Wet Seal stores for teen girls and 85 Arden B. stores for young women.
Like other retailers, Wet Seal is battling the worst retail downturn in recent memory.
Given the state of the industry, the company’s February results are notable. Bellwether retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. also did better than expected last month.
Wet Seal stores saw sales decline 5.6% last month. Arden B., which has been struggling for the past year, saw same-store sales drop 11.5%, better than the 23% drop of a year earlier.
After months of slashing the amount of clothes Arden B. sales, the company said it plans to add merchandise in the hopes of boosting sales.
Wet Seal’s total sales for the month fell 5.8% to $39.8 million, driven in part by lower prices.
Chief Executive Edmond Thomas is leading Wet Seal through its second turnaround this decade.
Thomas has helped Wet Seal cut costs and re-emerge as a “fast fashion” retailer by appealing to trend savvy consumers looking for value.
Orange County’s other mall retailer, Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., used to report monthly sales at the same time as Wet Seal.
Pacific Sunwear, which is struggling with declining same-store sales, said in January it would no longer report monthly sales and instead will do so quarterly.
