JC/J experiences weak sales trend during autumn

29 Jan '08

3 min read

RNB RETAIL AND BRANDS is a retailer that sells ready-to wear and fashion clothing, beauty products, accessories and jewelry. The company is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange. The RNB Group is organized on the basis of two business areas – Polarn O.

Pyret and a distribution platform for national and international brands. Polarn O. Pyret is a brand focused on baby and children's wear and has 87 stores, including 49 franchise stores.

The distribution platform consists of two business areas: Department Stores and Store Concepts. The Department Stores business area operates through stores in the department stores NK in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Steen & Ström in Oslo and Illum in Copenhagen, as well as in Kosta Outlet.

In total, the Department Stores business area has 23,000 square meters of retail space distributed among 76 store units. The Store Concepts business area consists of JC, J-Store, Brothers and Sisters and comprises 300 stores, including 170 franchise stores. The total number of stores included in RNB at November 30, 2007 was 463, of which 219 were operated by franchisees.

Weaker-than-expected trend within RNB's JC and J-Store store concepts:
During the autumn 2007 season, RNB's JC and J-Store store concepts experienced a weaker-than-expected sales trend, noting a decrease of approximately 10% compared with the corresponding period in the preceding year.

The autumn 2007 collections did not satisfy customer expectations. Work on designing new concepts and concept expressions for JC and J-Store is under way and is expected to be completed in the next few months and be presented in time for the autumn 2008 collections.

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