Impact of Unsettled Weather on Same-Store Apparel Sales

「Accordingly, from the current interim consolidated accounting period, the Group has omitted segment-specific disclosures because it operates as a single segment consisting solely of the footwear business.」

「In terms of products, the company expanded the “SA・ＲＡ・ＲＩ” series under its private brand “NAVY” as functional summer merchandise, added popular summer products to address extremely hot weather, and newly introduced early-autumn products made from summer fabrics to address lingering summer heat, thereby responding to demand for seasonal products.」

「In terms of products, while the lingering summer delayed the start of the autumn season, we focused on sales of bottoms, an established year-round item, to secure revenue. At the same time, we controlled procurement and accelerated the conversion of carryover products into cash, working to achieve appropriate inventory levels.」

「In terms of products, sandals performed well owing to temperatures above the seasonal average,」

「In terms of products, sales of seasonal products fell below the previous year owing to lower demand for going out and weather-related factors, but」

「In addition, the impact of adverse summer weather and successive direct hits from major typhoons continued to create a challenging operating environment.」

「In addition to markdown sales resulting from the delayed selling season for summer products due to the prolonged rainy season, the company actively pursued sell-throughs to dispose of stagnant inventory and avoid carrying new stagnant inventory, resulting in lower average spend per customer and a gross profit margin below the previous year.」

「However, restrained purchasing for inventory adjustments caused declines in products such as children’s shoes. Although children’s shoes recovered in the second half, winter products performed poorly owing to the delayed decline in temperatures and limited snowfall, resulting in lower overall customer numbers and sales below the previous year.」

「However, overall customer numbers declined and sales remained below the previous year, owing to the impact of restrained purchasing associated with inventory adjustments and weak sales of winter products due to falling temperatures and the later-than-usual arrival of snowfall in northern Japan.」

「Despite these initiatives, customer numbers declined owing to the reduced effectiveness of newspaper inserts and adverse weather. Average spend per customer also declined as both unit prices and the number of items purchased per customer remained sluggish, causing same-store sales for the cumulative second quarter of the consolidated fiscal year to fall 9.5% year on year.」

「However, in addition to intensifying competition, adverse summer weather and the later-than-usual arrival of snowfall in northern Japan also caused customer numbers to remain sluggish, while sales at suburban roadside stores, which account for more than half of the stores by number, remained weak.」

「However, customer numbers remained sluggish owing to intensifying competition and adverse summer weather, while sales at suburban roadside stores, which account for more than half of the stores by number, remained weak.」

「In addition to the sluggish performance of autumn products due to high temperatures and adverse weather in August and September, same-store sales for the consolidated fiscal year fell 3.8% year on year and sales at all stores fell 6.2% year on year, owing in part to the sharp decline in apparel consumption expenditure in November and December.」

「These initiatives resulted in same-store customer numbers for the cumulative third quarter period rising 2.7% year on year, representing some progress; however, affected by adverse weather from August to September and sluggish growth in average spend per customer, same-store sales fell 2.0% year on year.」