Topic: Growth Stocks

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, October 21, 2011

Article Excerpt

REITMANS, $14.60, symbol RET.A on Toronto, has decided to close its 25 Cassis stores. The company will then add these outlets to its other chains. Cassis is the newest of Reitmans’ banners. The company launched the chain in 2006. Its stores, which average 3,400 square feet, are located in major malls. Cassis sells business-casual clothing for women in their forties. Cassis supplies less than 2% of Reitmans’ yearly sales. However, the company will take a one-time charge of $4 million (after tax) in the current quarter to write down Cassis’ assets and pay severance to laid-off employees. To put this charge in context, Reitmans earned $31.7 million, or $0.48 a share, in the three months ended July 30, 2011. That was down 18.2% from $38.7 million, or $0.57 a share, a year earlier. Sales fell 2.0%, to $286.1 million from $292.0 million. Same-store sales fell 1.8%. Reitmans will still own about 965 women’s clothing stores across Canada, including 363 Reitmans, 157 Smart Set,…