The Stride Rite Corporation filed its form 10-Q for the fiscal third quarter ended September 3, providing more sales and earnings detail for the individual brands and businesses under the corporate umbrella. As indicated in the preliminary release of Q3 results, the Stride Rite Children’s owned–retail group, the Sperry Top-Sider and Stride Rite International businesses were the bright spots for the period, while the Children’s Wholesale, Keds, and Tommy Hilfiger groups saw sales declines for the quarter.

Stride Rite Children’s Group Wholesale sales were down 5.5% for the period to $29.2 million from $30.9 million in the year-ago period. The Children’s Retail business increased 19.7% to $48.2 million from $40.3 million in Q3 last year. Total Children’s Group sales were up 8.8% to $77.4 million, compared to $71.2 million in the prior year period.

Keds sales declined 8.9% for the quarter to $25.1 million from $27.6 million as the company repositions the brand into better department stores and cuts its dependence on the mid-market and off-price business. Sperry Top-Sider sales jumped 52.8% to $18.0 million from $11.8 million in Q3 last year. The Tommy Hilfiger Footwear business fell 26.8% to $18.3 million from $25.0 million last year.

Stride Rite International sales grew 33.2% to $10.2 million, compared to $7.7 million.

As previously reported, consolidated net sales increased 4.2% to $146.2 million. Wholesale net sales decreased 2.0% for the quarter. Overall retail sales, including Keds retail and the e-commerce sites, increased 19.0% to $48.9 million. Unit shipments of first quality merchandise for the wholesale brands during the third quarter were 5.6% lower than the comparable period in 2004. Stride Rite’s average first quality wholesale selling price increased 0.3% from the third quarter of 2004.

First quality wholesale net sales decreased 4.7%, despite the positive impact of a $0.8 million decrease in combined discounts, returns and allowances. Closeout sales increased $1.3 million from the comparable period last year, while sales from promotional products increased $0.1 million.

In other Stride Rite news, the company is starting to make a number of expected changes at the recently acquired Saucony business. As reported in SEW_0541, chairman and CEO David Chamberlain indicated that Saucony’s Peabody, Mass. operation will be moved to Stride Rite’s HQ. But in a sharp departure from Chamberlain’s initial vote of confidence for the management team two weeks ago, SEW has learned that a restructuring of the Saucony team has now commenced in earnest.

Mike Umana, Saucony’s CFO who was initially appointed as president after the acquisition, is gone just a month after the deal closed. Sam Ward has also departed. Sources at the company have indicated that a large majority of the former senior management team are now gone.

A new president for Saucony has not been appointed, but Stride Rite president Rick Thornton is taking a more direct role in the business. Product chief Tom Carleo is now reporting directly to Mr. Thornton. On the sales side of the business, Mike Metcalfe, who has been SVP of sales for Keds, has now been appointed to the same role at Saucony. Richie Woodworth, the former president/CEO of the Greg Norman Collection that has been running the Tommy Hilfiger Footwear business for SRR, is now reportedly responsible for the Hind business.

While other changes have certainly taken place in the back-end of the business, the company did not confirm any other changes.