Deb Shops Inc. (Philadelphia) has reported a net sales increase of 4.3 percent for the second quarter ended July 31, 2005.
“During the second quarter our merchandise assortment continued to be well received, which, combined with lower levels of promotional activity, allowed us to expand gross margin 290 basis points and achieve significant earnings growth,” said president and ceo Marvin Rounick. “At the same time, comparable store sales increased 4.5 percent, our fourth consecutive quarter of positive same store sales gains. Looking ahead to the remainder of fiscal 2006, we are cautiously optimistic about our operating performance as evidenced by our increase in guidance for the remainder of the year.”
Net sales for the first six months of fiscal 2006 increased 5.2 percent.
During the quarter, Deb Shops opened three new stores and remodeled three existing locations. The teen retailer also added six plus-size departments and as of July 31, operated plus-size departments in 154 Deb Shops stores. The company currently operates 326 specialty apparel stores in 41 states under the Deb and Tops ‘n Bottoms names.