Zumiez Inc. announced that total sales for the five-week period ended December 31, 2005 increased 43.5% to $44.5 million, compared to $31.0 million for the same period last year. The company's comparable store sales increased 20.9% for the past month, versus a comparable store sales increase of 16.2% in the year ago period.
According to a recent conference call, comparable store sales increased 18.6%, 16.5%, 14.2%, 38.2%, and 8.6%, respectively, for the five weeks of the fiscal month.
Management attributed the strong month to “new stores, an increase in comparable store transactions, and an increase in average unit retail.” All departments posted positive comp sales, with men's sales leading the way.
Based on these stronger than expected results, the company now expects diluted earnings per share to approximate 90 cents in fiscal 2005, an increase from previous guidance of diluted earnings per share of 84 cents to 85 cents, and fiscal 2004 earnings of 56 cents per diluted share.
