Continued growth in fye’s Trends category, where the company reported a 10% increase for the quarter, represented one of a few bright spots for the retailer, reflecting increased sales of tabletop games and merch. By comparison in fye’s legacy categories, video and music sales plummeted 19%, contributing to an overall 9.4% drop in comparable store sales as compared to the first quarter of 2016. The number of stores dropped again as well, as the company redirected resources to upgrade and re-platform its digital storefront, fye.com.
In addition to the persistent trend of negative mall traffic affecting similar retail chains, fye claimed sales were negatively impacted by delays in the delivery of federal tax refund checks to consumers. February sales at fye dipped 19%, while customer traffic and sales in March and April improved.
The bigger picture is somewhat rosier. Thanks in part to its October 2016 acquisition of e-commerce retailer Etailz, parent company Trans World Entertainment reported an overall revenue increase of 35% for the first quarter (see "TWE Acquires E-Commerce Company E-Tailz"). The $37.2 million in revenue Etailz brought in was more than enough to offset a $10.8 million decline in revenue from the company’s fye segment.
