Genesco on the right foot in Q4

Despite a strong increase in same store sales, Genesco’s CEO says the company remains cautious about the rest of the fourth quarter.

Genesco Inc. reported that its same store sales, including both stores and direct sales, increased 10% for the quarter-to-date period ended Jan. 3, from the equivalent period last year. Same store sales increased 9% and sales for the company's e-commerce and catalog direct sales businesses increased 25% on a comparable basis for the period.

"While we are pleased with the strong overall comparable sales trend through the holiday season, which has continued into January, due to lower gross margin, lower than expected non-comparable sales, and exchange rate pressure in some of our businesses, we are maintaining our most recently announced expectations for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $4.75 to $4.85 for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31,” said Robert J. Dennis, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Genesco. “And while we experienced better than expected comparable sales in the Lids Sports Group, the group's non-comparable sales were lower than expected and the comparable sales have been driven in part by promotional pricing to manage inventory levels. Additionally, we are cautious about the balance of the quarter for Lids because results will depend in part on the performance of certain teams. The comparison to last year's Seattle Seahawks' run to the Super Bowl may be difficult to match."

The Nashville-based specialty retailer sells footwear, headwear, sports apparel and accessories in more than 2,670 retail stores and leased departments throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, principally under the names Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Shi by Journeys, Underground by Journeys, Schuh, Schuh Kids, Lids, Locker Room by Lids, Lids Clubhouse and Johnston & Murphy.