Raw Data Report: Clothing Companies

Each day, Wall Street is flooded with stock research offering a multitude of conflicting investment opinions. As such, TickerMine is not in the business of providing more opinions. We believe that accurate raw data points can be used to gain insight in to the stock selection and valuation process.

Sales Increase For Juicy Couture's "Stylish" and "Comfortable" Clothing Line

Liz Claiborne's (LIZ) Juicy Couture clothing line is selling better that other brands in ten (42%) of the twenty-four department stores surveyed by Tickermine. All of the respondents interviewed were very positive about the Juicy Couture clothing line opining that it was "stylish," "comfortable," and "trendy." Thirteen stores (54%) reported sales trends of the Juicy Couture line similar to last year and ten (42%) reported increasing sales. The sample included department stores from around the country including Bloomingdales, Macy's and Nordstrom. Of the twenty-four stores, eleven (46%) reported clearance sales or excess inventory.

American Eagle Outfitter's (AEO) Customers Enjoy the Store's Prices, Comfort and Style

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. reported earlier this spring that their sales were flat compared to previous years. But a Tickermine survey found customers being upbeat about the Pittsburgh based store's fashions and what brings them back. Tickermine surveyed 23 stores across the nation and asked respondents about which were the most popular spring items on the racks, whether there was an overstock or a depleted stock of these items, and what they thought their customers like most about this season's fashions. American Eagles' graphic T-shirts were the most popular with 14 respondents or 61%. Hooded sweatshirts were cited twice or 9%, as were shorts, tank tops and American Eagle's pique polo shirts. The American Eagle Heritage T-shirt was cited once or 4%. Almost all respondents, 23, or 96% said they had these items in stock, and only one respondent or 4% said they had to order more. When asked what the respondents thought lured their customers back into their retailer, all 23 respondents or 100% said it was the comfort, price and style of the products.

Bebe (BEBE) Sales Still Doing Well with Spring Dresses Making a Booming Trade

Bebe, the Brisbane, CA based ladies fashion retailer, continues to do well in an overall flailing US retail sector. Its financial results for the second quarter ending late January were moderately up from a year earlier and our second Tickermine survey on this retailer offers further insight as to why. We polled 29 stores across the US and asked how business was doing, did excess inventory exist and what were the specific hot spring items? Sixteen respondents or 55% stated business was average, six or 21% described business as being either "above average" or "very strong," and only one person or 6% cited below average in their response. Sixteen or 55% of respondents reported having no excess inventory and of the 13 or 45% who reported that excess inventory existed, four stated that these were winter items, such as jackets. These will apparently go on sale soon. And dresses (including signature print dresses, silk crochet maxi dresses and open-backed slip dresses) were the number one spring sales item with 12 or 41%. Tops and tank tops came next with seven respondents or 24% and this group included off-shoulder cap sleeve tops and bustiers.

Customer Spending $50 or More Per Trip, Repeat Business Strong at LuLu (LULU)

In TickerMine's survey of Lululemon stores we found that most shoppers spend over $50 per visit and that a majority of Lululemon store representatives believe that most customers are repeat customers to their store. TickerMine's survey showed that 45% of customers spent $50-$75 per store visit and that 37% spent $75-$125 per store visit. There were no responses below $40 in our survey. When we asked Lululemon store employees what percentage of customers were returning customers 37% chose 50-60%, 29% said 60-75% and 15% of respondents believed that over 75% of store traffic was returning customers. In our survey it was revealed that 54% of respondents believed that tops in general were the top selling item (45% said tank tops) 23% saw pants as the best selling category led specifically by yoga pants. 68% of respondents reported that there were no issues with inventory shortages at their Lululemon location, while 28% did say there were some product shortages. Lululemon respondents also told us that 68% of customers paid full price for clothes most often. 23% of respondents believe that customers generally shop for and purchase the items on sale.

Quiksilver (ZQK) Merchandise Now Out of Stock; Shorts Continue to be Best Sellers

In this follow up to our February survey, we asked surf shops, department stores, boardrider clubs, ski shops and other small boutique stores about the availability of Quiksilver merchandise and the best selling products. Contrary to our February survey where most stores had products in stock, this March survey indicated that 73% of stores were out of stock and only 23% had items in stock. Top sellers were shorts, receiving 31% of responses, followed by jackets and hoodies (14% each) and hats (10%)

Comments

[Swingline]

BeBe reported a -8% comp two weeks after your headline: "Bebe (BEBE) Sales Still Doing Well with Spring Dresses Making a Booming Trade" was posted. I am confused how this is helpful?