Genesco, Inc. reported that comparable sales, including stores and direct sales, increased by 3 percent for the quarter-to-date period ended December 24, 2022.
Same-store sales decreased 2 percent and sales for the company’s e-commerce businesses increased 22 percent on a comparable basis for that period.
By concept, comps at Journeys Group were down 2 percent with overall sales of 3 percent. Schuh Group’s comps were up 18 percent and total sales were ahead 6 percent. Johnston & Murphy Group’s comps were up 15 percent with total sales climbing 11 percent. in the Licensed Brands segment, sales were down 39 percent.
Mimi E. Vaughn, Genesco board chair, president and chief executive officer, said, “We are pleased with our 3 percent comparable sales increase fourth quarter-to-date given the external challenges facing elements of our business this holiday season. Our multi-divisional, multi-channel operating model allowed us to capitalize on the strength at Schuh and Johnston & Murphy, along with robust gains in our online business, to offset lower-than-expected results at Journeys due primarily to a highly promotional selling environment and weaker store traffic. While fourth-quarter sales are trending towards the higher end of our projections, more than expected shipping and warehouse expense is pressuring gross margins and December store performance in the U.S. has resulted in store expense deleverage. Therefore, we now expect total year-adjusted EPS to be at the low end of our most recent range of $5.50 to $5.90 compared with our prior view that we’d be near the midpoint.”
