Kay Krill, Ann Taylor President, stated, "At the Ann Taylor division, we began to see a gradual improvement in our clients' response in late April as more brand-appropriate merchandise was introduced in our stores, and this has continued in May.
As we enter the fall season, our product will be even more wardrobable and will reflect a better balance of end-use offerings across wear-to-work, casual, sportswear and special occasion, with an emphasis on wear-to-work and special occasion as that is what our client comes to us for. At LOFT, while the casual end-use category generated our best results and our client came to us throughout the quarter for more seasonless merchandise and layering pieces, They needed to have a better balance of transitional items that our client could wear immediately, such as more appropriate sleeve lengths and pant lengths versus bare tops and cropped pants.
While LOFT's performance did not meet our expectations, I am confident that our team will deliver improved performance as the year progresses as we lower inventory to more appropriate levels, and create a better balance of transitional offerings, especially for the first and third quarters which tend to be more weather sensitive."
Total inventory levels at the end of the first quarter were up approximately 8 percent on a per square foot basis compared to the same period last year. By division, inventory levels on a per square foot basis were down aperformance as the year progresses as we lower inventory to more appropriate levels, and create a better balance of transitional offerings, especially for the first and third quarters which tend to be more weather sensitive."
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
