New York & Co. narrows loss, but sales dip

New York City Specialty apparel retailer New York & Co. announced Thursday it narrowed its third-quarter loss to $6.3 million, from $8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Sales for the quarter ended Oct. 31 were $227.9 million, compared with $249.0 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008. Comparable-store sales decreased 8.4%.

CEO Richard P. Crystal said, “Third-quarter results were in-line with our expectations and reflected a sequential improvement in our comparable-store sales trend from the second quarter of this year. … we remain on-track to achieve our plan for the fall season, as we expect to achieve profitability in the fourth quarter and believe our cumulative results for the fall season will approach breakeven levels.”

The company operates 592 retail stores.