US specialty retailer of leather outerwear, accessories and apparel Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. has reported sales of $21.9 million for the five weeks ended April 7, compared with $27.9 million for the five weeks ended April 1, 2006. Year-to-date sales also decreased, falling 23.2% to $44.2 million from $57.6 million for the same period last year. Comparable store sales declined 16.8%, compared with a 14% decrease in March 2006, whilst year-to-date comparable store sales decreased 21% compared with a fall of 11.7% for the first three months last year.

Commenting on the continued decline in sales chairman and CEO, Michael Searles, said, "While we continued to struggle from a traffic perspective during the month of March, average purchase size continues to show improvement, increasing 18% in our mall stores. In 2007, we are focused on building traffic so that we can deliver improved performance with our new product offering. Sales for the last week of the month were higher than the same period last year, reflecting the effect of the Easter calendar shift."

Wilsons operates 416 stores located in 45 states across the USA, including 286 mall stores, 116 outlet stores and 14 airport stores.