January was "unlimited" for Limited Brands with all units and the Company as a whole recording monthly comp store increases ranging from 23% to 33%. ... Rub a Dub Dub, Restoration Hardware cleaned up with their first annual January Bathware Event as the Company continues to position itself as the premium lifestyle brand retailer. ... Sharpening their focus, Sharper Image reported record sales for the month of January, fourth quarter and fiscal year. The Company continues to bring to market "quirky" proprietary products appealing to a broad customer base. ... Comp store sales washed ashore for West Marine in January, though CEO John Edmondson cautioned that some of the January sales will be "washed out" in February due to changes in the Company's promotional calendar. ... Chicos and Aeropostale found favor with fashion forward females in January looking for the post holiday trendy bargain. ... "Banking" on the unseasonably cold weather in January and fashion forward males, Jos A. Bank recorded one of its best months and probably one of its more profitable months as sales were particularly strong in the high end Signature and Signature Gold categories.

A strong January 2004 performance for Limited Brands helped cushion the generally soft results in January 2003. We do anticipate, however, that a smaller portion of the incremental sales will reach the bottom line as the Company was very promotional. ... The momenutm of strong holiday sales continued into January at Childrens Place, with cleaner inventories fueling higher margins. ... Riding the high tide of promotions in January, West Marine may find itself in shallow water in February due to the change in its promotional calendar. ... It would appear that women decided they needed to complete their new outfits purchased at AnnTaylor, Stein Mart and Aeropostale with a new pair (or three) of shoes and decided the best place would be at DSW Shoe Warehouse.

Two companies that sought the shelter of Bankruptcy Court made our bottom ten for the month of January. Spiegel and subsidiary Eddie Bauer continue to struggle to attract customers as evidenced by the continuing negative comps. ... In spite of Gadzooks transforming itself to a "girls only" retailer, their mom's were not impressed and comps continued to fall, landing the Company in Chapter 11 just this week. ... Inventory management forced several apparel retailers including Christopher & Banks, Talbots, Cato and Catherines to become very promotional in January clearing the racks for fresh Spring inventory receipts. ... Meanwhile Value City was forced to forego markups to maintain volume causing the Company to lower its earnings forecast for the fourth quarter. ... Wet Seal's merchandising failed to gain traction on dry land as teen's continued to hang out at other retail "cribs". ... With reports of the economy recovering it would appear that mom's and grandmom's have decided to take advantage of finished goods promotions rather than spend time sewing as Hancock Fabrics, a fabric and sewing merchant, joined our list of bottom retailers.

It is truly amazing how a Company with 21% comps could be considered a "falling star" but such is the world of mathematics. As proof of no good deed going unpunished, Sharper Image rocked the retail world with comps of 37% for the month of January 2003 - how can you not fall from that lofty perch? ... Similarly, Bombay Company was hard pressed this year to repeat their second only to Sharper Image performance of last year. ... Tough comparisons and more modest gains were the order of the day for The Gap and Hot Topic. ... Proving that comp store sales are a good barometer of potential business failure, Gadzook's, which had been a long standing member of the "Falling Stars" club, finally had to seek protection under Chapter 11 this week. ... Continuing their EDHP philosophy, Talbots was unable to attract the post holiday bargain seekers during the month. ... Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow is not music to the ears of Bon Ton Stores as management blamed the declining comps on the bad weather in the Midwest and Northeast. ...Women may have gotten the flu bug in January due to the weather but were immune to the Fashion Bug nor were they enamored with sister company Catherines.

The recently depressed consumer electronics industry was helped again by the gadget hungry dads who took advantage of after holiday sales to get "what he really wanted for Christmas". ... Record breaking cold and clearance sales helped lift January sales across most industries from Apparel with a new parka and mittens to Drug Stores with cold and flu medicine to better than expected results. ... The better than expected results followed a slightly better than expected holiday season which should lead to better than expected profits for the fourth quarter.