Foothill Ranch-based mall retailer Wet Seal Inc. saw a second straight month of lower sales in May, but the drop last month was lower than analysts had expected.
Same-store sales, which measure sales growth at stores open at least a year, fell 5.3% last month from a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts were expecting a 6% drop in same-store sales.
Total sales for the month fell 4% to $40.2 million.
The company operates 501 clothing stores, made up of 422 Wet Seal stores for teen girls and 79 Arden B. stores for young women.
Same-store sales fell 4.6% at Wet Seal stores and 7.8% at Arden B.
The declines come after a 6.1% decline in April same-store sales for the company. That reversed gains in March and February.
A later Memorial Day boosted shopping at the end of May, but sales for most of the month were soft, according to Chief Executive Ed Thomas.
He cited poor weather in some markets and “possibly, a pause by consumers after relatively strong buying earlier in the year.”
