Dress Barn Q2 same-store sales soar

Suffern, N.Y. Dress Barn said Thursday that same-store sales soared 10% in its second quarter as more customers searched for inexpensive clothing.

The company said it saw stronger than expected sales performance at each of its divisions.

In addition to the quarterly same-store sales gain, consolidated same-store sales increased 8% for the first half of the company's fiscal year.

Dress Barn said total sales for the 13-week fiscal quarter ended Jan. 23 rose 73.1% to $594.1 million, compared with $343.2 million reported for the same period a year earlier. The increase was primarily due to the inclusion of Justice sales since the combination on Nov. 25, and increased comparable-store sales at Dress Barn and Maurices.