Same-store sales for Anaheim-based apparel retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. declined by 2% for the opening day of the holiday shopping season, coming in on the high side of a tough outlook for the current quarter.
The 873-store chain had earlier said the key same-store sales total will likely be anywhere from flat to down 5% for the quarter, which ends in January.
Pacific Sunwear Chief Executive Gary Schoenfeld discussed the results of Black Friday—as the day after Thanksgiving is known— with cable channel CNBC on Monday morning. He said he’s optimistic about sales gains beginning next spring and continuing through 2011, especially with women’s clothing.
Shares of the retailer rose slightly on the day and continued upward after hours to a market value of about $420 million.
Pacific Sunwear beat relatively low expectations in the recently concluded third-quarter, with sales of $258 million, down 4% from a year earlier. Analysts expected $251 million. The company reported a loss of $4.3 million after deferred tax assets. Wall Street expected a $6.3 million loss.
The third-quarter results were overshadowed by projections for the current quarter that included an expected loss of between $5 million and $12 million and revenue about even with a year earlier.
