Specialty retailer of leather outerwear, accessories and apparel Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. has reported that sales for the five weeks ended December 31, 2005 decreased 8.9% to $110.2 million compared with $120.9 million for the five weeks ended January 1, 2005. Year-to-date sales decreased 9.7% to $370.6 million compared with $410.6 million for the same period last year. Sales for the prior year-to-date period included approximately $20.8 million in liquidation sales resulting from the transfer of inventory to an independent liquidator.

Comparable store sales decreased 7.7% for the five weeks ended December 31, 2005; this decrease compares with a 4.7% decrease in comparable store sales for the five weeks ended January 1, 2005. Year-to-date comparable store sales decreased 2.2% compared with an increase of 0.8% in the same period last year. Comparable store sales for the prior year-to-date period do not include sales from stores that were liquidated.

Commenting on these results, Michael Searles, CEO, said, "Our comparable store sales results for the month were below expectations. Reduced traffic in our stores negatively impacted sales during the month. While our sales performance was disappointing, our gross margin rates for the month came in higher than planned and exceeded last year. The improvement in our margin rates with respect to last year offset some of our sales shortfall."