Sales continued to decline in May at US leather outerwear, accessories and apparel retailer Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc.

Sales declined to $11.4 million for the four weeks ended June 2, compared with $15.6 million for the comparable four-week period in 2006. Comparable store sales also decreased, falling 25%.

Year-to-date sales decreased 23.7% to $69 million from $90.3 million, whilst comparable store sales slid 21.5%.

Michael Searles, chairman and CEO, stated, "Despite an increase in dollars per transaction of 18.8% for the month, we continued to struggle from a traffic perspective during the month of May. Reduced year-over-year transaction volume was a key factor in our comparable store sales results. As such, we remain focused on implementing strategies that will help to increase traffic during the third and fourth quarters of 2007."

As of June 2, Wilsons operated 414 stores located in 45 US states.