Slippery Slope

Specialty retailer The Wet Seal Inc. (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) continues to struggle, reporting lower sales and same-store sales drop during its most recent quarter.

For the quarter ended May 3, 2003, Wet Seal reported net sales of $123.6 million, down from $156.6 million a year earlier, while same-store sales declined 25.5 percent during the same period.

“We continued to work through some challenges in the first quarter and made progress in our efforts to refresh our product offerings and reconnect with our core customer base,&#34 says Irving Teitelbaum, chairman and interim ceo. “While sales have not rebounded as quickly or as strongly as we had initially expected, we are looking forward to better prospects for the second half of the year, particularly as we roll out the important back-to-school line, which should reach stores in mid-July.&#34

Teitelbaum became interim ceo in early February, when the retailer relieved Kathy Bronstein of her duties as vice chairman and ceo.

During its most recent quarter, Wet Seal opened 16 Wet Seal Stores, three Arden B. stores and one Zutopia store, bringing its total number of stores to 621, versus 579 a year ago. The retailer also closed four Wet Seal/Contempo stores and one Arden B. store during the same period.