Retail outlet operator Genesco "missed earnings estimates in its latest quarter as it blamed a downturn in interest for football, baseball and college-sports gear for weak sales at its Lids stores," according to Cara Lombardo of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Lids, which is Genesco's second-largest brand, saw Q3 sales fall 6%, with Genesco President & CEO Robert Dennis saying "well-publicized challenges" facing the NFL have damped demand for licensed team merchandise at Lids. He noted waning interest in the NFL, "evidenced by declining viewership of games and shrinking merchandise sales, was by far the biggest driver" of lower sales. Dennis: "No one in the industry saw the NFL thing coming." He added that the Cowboys' "lackluster season has compounded Lids’s sales slump." Dennis also said that fans have "cooled on college basketball gear," which he "attributed to key schools having worse than usual seasons." Lids’ latest quarter was also a "tough comparison to last year, which saw a surge in purchases" after the Cubs' World Series win. Dennis added that Genesco plans to "offer more discounts at Lids stores in the current quarter to fight competition and keep inventory from piling up" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/2). In Indianapolis, Scott Olson noted Lids had been Genesco’s "most successful subsidiary for years" after it was acquired in '04, but the store chain has "struggled in recent years after stumbling in a bid to diversify into apparel and equipment for youth and school sports teams" (IBJ.com, 12/1).
