Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. generated $149.3 million during third quarter 2008, up from $131.3 million in third quarter 2007. But all of that growth came from increases in sales in pre-existing and new stores: The company’s direct marketing sales dropped by 11.4%, while comparable store sales rose by 7%.
During the first nine months of 2008, the apparel marketer pulled in $447.4 million, up from $395.1 million during the first three quarters of 2007. But just as in the third quarter, this growth was spurred by the retail channel: Comparable store sales were up 6.8% while direct marketing sales fell by 0.4%.
While the company did not comment on direct marketing’s falloff, most of the damage seems to have been done during the third quarter. In its second quarter results, comparable store sales were up 6.8% over second quarter 2007’s level, and direct marketing sales jumped by 10.2%.
For the first six months of the year, comparable store sales had been up 6.7% over the first half of 2007’s level, while direct response sales had risen 4.3%.
Company’s SEC filings discussing the first six months note that the gains came from online channels, while catalog sales fell. Jos. A. Bank has not yet filed its SEC documents for the third quarter of 2008.
