Carter’s Q1 sales increase, will cut jobs by 10%

Atlanta Children’s retailer Carter’s reported late Tuesday that higher demand among wholesale and mass-channel customers helped boost its profits by 41.6% for the first fiscal quarter ended April 4 to $16.4 million, compared with $11.6 million for the same time frame last year.

The company’s retail sales increased 17.6% to $153.8 million, and same-store sales rose 5.2% for the quarter.

The company continued to expand its portfolio during the quarter. By opening seven Carter’s locations, the company now operates 260 Carter’s and 165 OshKosh retail stores.

These gains aside, Carter’s remains cost-conscious and announced it will move forward with a restructuring initiative it originally announced in February. The strategy includes reducing its corporate work force by 10% through the closure of its Oshkosh, Wis.-based facility and one of its three distributions centers. The company also plans to freeze wages, suspend 401(k) contributions and slash discretionary spending.

Carter’s expects to incur additional charges of $6 million in 2009 related to these restructuring efforts. The company has already recorded $8.7 million in pre-tax charges.