USA : December sees a significant rebound in traffic at Wilsons Leather

Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc reported a sales decrease of 13.0% to $65.9 million for the five weeks ended January 5, 2008 as compared to $75.7 million for the five weeks ended December 30, 2006. Year-to-date sales for the Company's stores decreased 12.5% to $258.5 million compared to $295.5 million for the same period last year.
Comparable store sales decreased 7.1% for the five weeks ended January 5, 2008 as compared to a 23.1% decrease for the five weeks ended December 30, 2006. Year-to-date comparable store sales decreased 11.8% compared to a decrease of 17.0% for the same period last year.
Michael Searles, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "After a strong Thanksgiving start, both traffic and comparable store sales for the first three weeks of December declined in the high teens. The last two weeks of December saw a significant rebound in traffic and, as a result, comparable store sales averaged an increase of over 25% in the final two weeks. This was a result of both the calendar shift and significantly increased traffic and conversion in our stores. The first week of January has started off strong as well."