Casual Male Retail Group will mail a co-branded catalog with Sears that is scheduled to be in homes April 10, the multichannel marketer of men’s apparel said during a conference call yesterday announcing its 2005 fourth quarter and year-end financial results.
The relationship between Canton, MA-based, Casual Male and Sears began last year when the men’s apparel brand was introduced in the Sears Canada Big Book. Last fall, Casual Male also became the exclusive big and tall retailer on Sears.com.
This latest initiative will take the form of a 92-page catalog that will be mailed to 234,000 big and tall customers who don’t currently shop Casual Male.
“Based on the success of the dot-com, this could have a lot of upside potential in the future,” Casual Male CEO/president David Levin said during the conference call.
Already, direct channels represent 13 percent of Casual Male’s sales and are growing thanks to an increase in catalog circulation and other strategies, Levin said. In 2005, the company boosted its catalog circulation 50 percent and will increase it another 50 percent this year. It also is launching a loyalty program.
For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 28, Casual Male’s sales were up 9.8 percent to $129.7 million. Same-store sales increased 7.9 percent. Also, fourth-quarter net income totaled $13.5 million compared to net income of $7.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004.
Fiscal 2005 sales totaled $421.4 million, a 15 percent increase. The company’s net income for the year totaled $10.8 million compared to a net income of $1.5 million in fiscal 2004.
Chantal Todé covers catalog and retail news and BTB marketing for DM News and DM News.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
