First-quarter sales at San Francisco-based specialty retailer The Sharper Image fell off 37% to $65.5 million from $104 million in the same quarter last year.
Internet and catalog sales were hit the worst. Quarterly sales on the Web declined 42% year over year to $10 million, while the company's catalog/direct marketing division (including wholesale contracts) posted quarterly sales of $11.3 million, 62% lower than the same results a year ago.
By contrast, quarterly same-store sales at the group's 186 stores were down only 22% from Q1 2006.
For the month of April, company-wide sales for the month of April were $21.3 million, down 36% from April 2006. In-store sales for the month were off 11% from last year's level at $14.5 million. Catalog/ direct sales for the month slid 69% to $3.6 million, while $3.2 in Internet sales represented a 40% drop from figures posted in April 2006.
The company announced this weekend that it has named Rebecca Roedell as chief financial officer, replacing interim CFO Daniel W. Nelson.
