Sales at the FYE chain continued to decline in the quarter ended January 28 and for the full year as its Trends category grew, reaching 38% of sales for the quarter, the company reported.  Like other chains, FYE said it was affected by negative mall traffic; the chain also continues to experience massive declines in its heritage media categories.

Sales were down 9.8% for the quarter, with comparable store sales down 6.9% and the remainder due to a decline in the number of stores.  This was roughly equivalent to its decline for the nine-week holiday period (see "Gamestop, FYE Report Sharp Holiday Sales Declines").

Trend sales were 38% of sales in the quarter, compared to 29% of sales in the same quarter a year ago.  Video sales were down 20% for the quarter; music sales were down 22%.

Sales declined 7.7% for the full year, with a 31% increase in Trends and a 17% decline in packaged media sales.  For the year, Trends were 32% of sales vs. 22% in the previous year.  Store count was down about 5% to 284 stores vs. 299 at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Trans World Entertainment, the parent company, had a solidly profitable Q4, which pulled its net from a loss (see "TWE Losses Mount") to a $2.8 million profit, about the same as the $2.7 million profit a year ago.  During 2016, TWE acquired e-commerce retailer Etailz (see "TWE Acquires E-Commerce Company Etailz"), pulling its overall sales up 20% for Q4, and 4.1% for the year.