Fourth-quarter direct sales at teen apparel cataloger/retailer Delia’s fell 3.9%, to $32.0 million for the three months ended January 30. Catalog and Web sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 had been $33.3 million. Gross margin for the direct division declined as well, to 47.9% from 49.3% the previous fourth quarter, due primarily to an increase in promotions in order to boost response.
Delia’s didn’t break out direct revenue for the fiscal year, but total sales were $223.9 million, up 3.8% from $215.6 million for fiscal 2008. Gross margin slipped, however, from 35.7% to 35.0%.
So far this year, “spring sales are still negative due to our merchandising challenges,” CEO Robert Bernard admitted in a statement. The company expects the direct division to have lower year-on-year sales but higher margins for the first half of the year “due to significantly lower clearance inventory levels as compared to spring 2009,” he added. In addition to the namesake brand, the company owns apparel cataloger Alloy.
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