Zale Q3 Sales Increase 6.3%

Zale reported third quarter revenues of $477 million compared to $449 million last year, an increase of 6.3%. Comparable store sales increased 5.8%. Year-to-date revenues are still low, decreasing 2.4% to $1.68 billion, compared to $1.72 billion for the same period last year. Year-to-date comparable store sales decreased 2.3%.

The jewelry retailer added that unrecognized revenues related to warranty sales increased $17 million. This increase reflects the incremental cash collected and the future positive impact to earnings as a result of the change to the company’s lifetime jewelry protection plans, Zale said in a release.

"Sales were fueled primarily by an aggressive clearance strategy that exceeded our expectations with $55 million of inventory liquidated in the third quarter," President and CEO Neal Goldberg said.

He added that the clearance strategy is critical for Zale to achieve its goal of becoming "clearer in our product offering and more effective in differentiating the good, better, best value proposition."

According to Goldberg, Zale will further reduce its inventory by $100 plus million using the same aggressive promotional activity.

Zale will announce its third quarter earnings on May 22.