New Balance announced that its U.S. licensed franchise stores have seen increased year-over-year sales for the past nine straight months, but comp store sales growth appears to be slipping since February.
Over the past four months, comps increased 9.3 percent in February, 9.0 percent in March, 6.0 percent in April, and 1.0 percent in May, according to a company release.
Stephanie Smith, VP of retail for New Balance, cited an “increased level of service that we are able to offer our stores with the recent changes in our sales organization, thanks to the strong leadership of Peter Zappala, vice president of specialty sales.”
New Balance has opened seven new stores in 2011 and plans to open five more before the end of the year. All 153 licensed New Balance stores in North America are independently owned and operated.
