Caché looks on the bright side following tough first quarter

A shrinking net loss was the only positive result from the tough first quarter fiscal 2014 numbers posted by Caché. Net loss shrank to $10.8 million from $17.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier.



Caché’s net sales dropped 11% to $47.4 million, from $53.5 million. Same-store sales declined 8.9%, with the shift in Easter contributing. Jay Margolis, Caché’s chairman and CEO, tried to strike an encouraging tone.



“We had a disappointing start to the year with strength across our dress assortments more than offset by too narrow of an assortment in key casual bottoms, and the decision not to move forward with certain casual and accessories offerings that were inconsistent with our brand positioning,” said Margolis. “This, along with lower mall traffic throughout the quarter, store closings as a result of winter snowstorms and the later Easter holiday impacted our sales and profitability. To this end, we were pleased with the response to our dress assortments in long, short, day and evening categories. At quarter end, dresses represented 55% of our total sales compared to 44% a year ago.”