Article Excerpt:
TWST: Let's start with an overview of what you're covering in the apparel space.Mr. Ohmes: I cover the athletic footwear, sporting goods and branded apparel companies, in the athletic space that includes NIKE (NKE), Reebok (RBK), Foot Locker (FL), Finish Line (FINL), Genesco (GCO), Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), Sports Authority (TSA), Hibbett Sporting Goods (HIBB) and Gander Mountain (GMTN). Then on the apparel side, Jones Apparel Group (JNY), Liz Claiborne (LIZ), Polo Ralph Lauren (RL), Columbia Sportswear (COLM), Warnaco (WRNC) and Carter's (CRI).
TWST: Let's start with the apparel side. What's been going on there from
a business point of view so far this year?
Mr. Ohmes: If you back up to 2004, you had pretty good momentum in
spring in apparel. I think you had a little bit of a slowdown as you
moved into the back half and then you had a phenomenon where Christmas
got a later than expected start for a lot of retailers. I think that had
somewhat of a negative impact on the branded apparel vendors, broadly
speaking. So you actually saw some companies miss numbers; Jones Apparel
Group would be one that comes to my mind off the top of my head. As
we've moved into 2005, you actually saw a pretty solid January and
February in retail. Then you had a tough March that has been blamed on
weather, cooler than expected temperatures and snowfalls in certain
regions of the country. We're sort of halfway through April and we don't
have a lot of update on April, but we're hoping the weather has helped
some. Throwing another wrench into this has been the Easter shift that
should have benefited March, but it looks like it didn't benefit the
retailers in March as much as initially planned. So you're coming off a
period now as we head into earnings season for the branded apparel
companies where you're going to hear more cautiousness about the outlook
for the balance of spring and maybe the balance of 2005.
Tickers included in this excerpt: ADDDY, COLM, CRI, DKS, FD, FINL, FL, GCO, GMTN, HIBB, JC, JNY, LIZ, MAY, NKE, PVH, RBK, RL, TSA, VFC, WRNC
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