Tiffany & Co.'s performance last week, compared with most other Tiffany Bracelet stocks, puts the jeweler in a solitaire setting.While many retail stocks languished on concerns over lackluster third-quarter sales, Tiffany shares soared 5-1/8 points and hit a 52-week high of 39-1/4.The momentum came after Tiffany executives told analysts that its same-store sales in both the United States and Japan are running ahead of expectations for the quarter ending this month.Total company sales--including European operations, direct mail and corporate business-should match projections."The word that their third-quarter U.S. comparable-store sales are better than expected, and are accelerating, portends an excellent Christmas," says Janet Joseph Kloppenburg, a retail analyst with Robertson Stephens & Co. "It could mean that our earnings projections are conservative."Ms. Kloppenburg has been forecasting that Tiffany will earn $1.93 per share for its fiscal year ending Jan. 31 and will have revenues of $681.5 million. Last year it lost 65 cents on sales of $566.5 million.The good news reaches over much of Tiffany's operations. At a time when many U.S. retailers are struggling domestically, Tiffany is likely to show comparable-store gains Tiffany CuffLink than the 9% increase forecast for the third quarter.Some of that growth is attributed to Tiffany making its stores more user-friendly without tarnishing its sterling image. For example, new in-store boutiques for baby gifts and men's gifts were created to aid hurried shoppers."The growth is spread over a lot of product categories and geographic areas across the U.S.," says a Tiffany spokesman. "It is concentrated on local market customers, not foreign tourists."
Comparable-store sales in Japan, which account for nearly 25% of Tiffany's overall business, should be up an impressive 20%"The Japanese numbers are important because they confirm that Tiffany's plan there is working," says Barbara E. Miller, an analyst with Alex. Brown & Sons.Last year, Tiffany restructured its Japanese operations, no longer acting only as a wholesaler in that country. Its same-store sales are now showing healthy increases, despite price cutting.This is the second time this year Tiffany has given Wall Street a pleasant surprise. Last spring the jeweler shocked analysts Tiffany Earring it recorded a 20% increase in sales to $131 million. That announcement sent Tiffany stock skyward, peaking at 38 in late August.But to the surprise of many retail analysts, Tiffany began to slide earlier this month. Tiffany began selling last week at only 34-1/8."I thought the stock had gotten unexplainably low based on their performance, but it was suffering along with other retail stocks," says Janet Mangano, a retail analyst with Burnham Securities. "People are beginning to re-examine the near-term and long-term prospects for Tiffany. There is still a lot of upside potential."
Tiffany Co. will consolidate its jewelry manufacturing operations in Pleasantville and in the space above its world-famous Manhattan store, into the former Citibank building in Pelham early next year. By February, Tiffany will start relocating to the 17,200-square-foot third floor of the 125,000-square-foot building at 143 Sparks Ave., and use the space for a new manufacturing center. The first 59 employees will come from the company's overcrowded 4,500-square-foot space at 520 Bedford Road in Pleasantville. Next summer, Tiffany will relocate 54 of 91 employees from workshops above its Fifth Tiffany Key Ring store.Tiffany Co. will consolidate its jewelry manufacturing operations in Pleasantville and in the space above its world-famous Manhattan store, into the former Citibank building in Pelham early next year.By February, Tiffany will start relocating to the 17,200-square-foot third floor of the 125,000-square-foot building at 143 Sparks Ave., and use the space for a new manufacturing center. The first 59 employees will come from the company's overcrowded 4,500-square-foot space at 520 Bedford Road in Pleasantville. Next summer, Tiffany will relocate 54 of 91 employees from workshops above its Fifth Avenue store.Beginning in the second quarter of 1996, the company plans to hire 44 additional employees, said Curtis Ley, vice president of manufacturing.
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