Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) announced today that net sales for the first quarter ended May 1, 2010 rose by 16.0% to $89.1 million from $76.8 million in the same period a year ago. Comparable store sales rose 9.1% over 2009. Despite the numbers, the company posted a loss of $1.9 million or $(.06) per diluted share, primarily due to moving the company’s distribution center during the quarter at a cost of $1.2 million .
At May 1, 2010, the Company had cash and current marketable securities of $96.8 million compared to cash and current marketable securities of $81.1 million at May 2, 2009.
“The combination of improved sales and better than expected product margins allowed us to more than offset planned operating expense increases and begin 2010 with first quarter bottom line results that were above our projections,” says Rick Brooks, Chief Executive Officer of Zumiez Inc. “We are optimistic that the enhancements we have made to our merchandise assortments and selling strategies over the past 12 months, both in our stores and on our website, have us well positioned for the future. At the same time, we are making important investments to our infrastructure, including investing in new systems and processes as well as the relocation of our distribution center, which we believe will help further enhance our ability to achieve our long-term objectives and build on our industry status as the leading retail destination for the action sports lifestyle.”
According to the release:
2010 Outlook
The Company is introducing guidance for the three months ending July 31, 2010 of a net loss of approximately ($0.07) to ($0.10) per diluted share, which includes estimated pre-tax charges of $1.3 million (after-tax per diluted share of $0.03) associated with the relocation of the Company’s distribution center from Everett, Washington to Corona, California. This guidance is based on an anticipated comparable store sales increase in the mid-to-high single digit range for the second quarter of fiscal 2010.
We currently intend to open approximately 25 new stores in fiscal 2010 with an opening cadence similar to fiscal 2009.