SANTA BARBARA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/02/08 -- The Walking Company Holdings, Inc.
(NASDAQ: WALK) (www.thewalkingcompany.com) (www.bigdogs.com), a developer
and retailer of branded, lifestyle consumer products, announces the
following recent sales results for the Walking Company and the Big Dogs
restructuring plan.
The Walking Company
The Walking Company comparative store sales increased approximately 2% for
the third quarter ended September 30, 2008. The Company has been trending
up approximately 5% since late July. Commenting on the recent sales trend,
Andrew Feshbach, CEO, said, "Despite the difficult retail environment we
were pleased to produce solid comparative store sales increases over the
summer. It is our expectation that our current positive sales trend will
continue in the next quarter." The Walking Company currently has 207
stores open and expects to open another three stores this year.
Big Dogs
As part of a long-term restructuring and strategic plan, the Company has
been successful in negotiating a plan to close-out the Big Dogs chain of
retail stores. The chain peaked at 231 stores, had been reduced to about
140 by the end of 2007, and is currently at 71 stores. The Company has
reached agreements with substantially all of its landlords to close the
remaining stores. It is expected that the chain will be reduced to
approximately six to eight stores by the end of January 2009, and these
stores will liquidate remaining inventory in 2009.
Prior to the restructuring plan, the Big Dogs chain was experiencing
declining comparative store sales of approximately 10%, as well as declines
in gross margin. Near the end of May, the Company began promoting the
liquidation of its inventory and the near-term closing of approximately 35
stores (closed by the end of September). The results of this planned
liquidation produced comparable store sales increases in excess of 10% (and
as high as 50% in the stores slated for closing), albeit at reduced
margins. This week, substantially all the remaining Big Dogs stores have
implemented the same inventory liquidation and store closing plan, and the
Company expects inventory to continue to be liquidated at the same higher
trends experienced earlier through the end of the year.
Financial Update
The orderly liquidation of Big Dogs store inventory during the year has
significantly improved the Company's liquidity position, since inventory
replenishment has been minimal and the liquidation promotions have
generated increased comparative store sales.
