With another disappointing quarter for Bob's Stores, its parent, TJX
Cos., appears to be increasingly weighing its options on the 34-unit
apparel chain. Bob's net sales increased 2% to $83 million from $79
million.
On a conference call with analysts, Carol Meyrowitz, president
and CEO of TJX, said Bob's Q3 comps decreased 2% and bottom-line
results were below plan. With the store base totally in the Northeast,
warmer-than-normal weather impacted sales during the period. Sales did
bounce back with the arrival of cooler weather and the Red Sox won the
World Series, but it was not enough to compensate for weakness earlier
in the quarter.
Asked by an analyst in the question & answer session “what kind of
leash Bob's is on at this point?,” Meyrowitz said, “Well, I said that
at the end of the year, we would [address] Bob's and again, we are
looking for comp over comp. Again, business really opened up to
them in the beginning of the fourth quarter as we saw the weather
change, but we are going to definitely get back to everybody probably
at the end of the year.”
