Birks Group CEO ‘Disappointed’ with Holiday Sales Performance

(IDEX Online News) – Jean-Christophe Bédos, president and CEO of the Birks Group, said that the company was disappointed in its sales performance during the holiday period.

The retailer announced that its comparable store sales from November 3 through December 28 decreased by 1 percent on a consolidated basis compared to the 2012 holiday season.

Comparable store sales in the US increased by 2 percent, but the results were dragged down by Canadian sales, which slumped 3 percent over 2012.

Birks said its successful growth in the US was primarily the result of increasing its average sale figure, which more than offset a decline in store traffic. Although the Canadian stores also experienced growth, it was not enough to balance a significant decline in store traffic exacerbated by unseasonably bad weather during the days leading up to Christmas.

“Much of the significant progress we made over the seven months prior to the holiday period we were not able to offset the loss of store traffic experienced in Canada towards the end of the calendar year,” said Bédos. “We remain confident, however, that continuing forward with our key strategies is an essential element in driving sales and profit growth across all our stores.”