wholesale ed hardy

Buckle (BKE) may serve as a good barometer of the U.S. consumer, especially young adults who seek stylish clothes but don't want to spend top dollar for them.Jeans are a bread-and-butter product for the Kearney, Neb.-based retailer, which operates 409 stores in 41 states.Buckle's name-brand and private-label designer jeans are not cheap, with most priced between $74 and $148 each. But these prices don't reach the stratospheric levels of premium denim hawkers like True Religion (TRLG) and Guess (GES).
On April 7, Buckle announced an 8.4% rise in same-store net sales in March vs. year-ago levels. Net sales rose 11.4% to $97 million.

Indeed, Buckle's profit and revenue growth in recent quarters is hardly breathtaking, but the company has steadily increased its earnings per share each year since fiscal 2005 ended in January that year.

Earnings per share grew 10% or faster in six of the past eight quarters. The last time Buckle's growth surpassed 25% was in the quarter ended in April 2009. IBD's CAN SLIM strategy recommends focusing on stocks that are growing quarterly earnings by 25% or more.

Nevertheless, its three-year earnings stability factor of 8 is exceptional in the fast-changing retail apparel industry. The 1 factor is reserved for companies with the most stable earnings; a 99 is the least stable.

Buckle will pay a quarterly per-share dividend of 20 cents on April 27; its annualized dividend yield is 1.8%.

In both December and February, the stock lacked the buying power needed to burst past resistance at 40. But on March 30, Buckle rose 3% and closed at 40.05 in volume that exceeded its average by 54%.

The stock is now extended from the proper buy point; watch to see if it might pull back to within buying range or touch its 50-day moving average line for the first or second time in the future.

Buckle's 88 Relative Price Strength Rating is solid.

In April, the firm said that CFO Karen Rhoads will step down from her post by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends on Jan. 28, 2012. Rhoads plans to continue serving on the company's board of directors.

True Religion Apparel, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRLG) today announced that the company will release its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, after the market close on Thursday, April 28, 2011. Mr. Jeffrey Lubell, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Merchant, Mr. Michael Egeck, President, Ms. Lynne Koplin, Chief Operating Officer, and Mr. Pete Collins, Chief Financial Officer will host a conference call that afternoon (April 28, 2011) at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT) to discuss the financial results.The conference call will be available to interested parties through a live webcast at www.bestedyhardy.com. Please visit the Web site and select the "Investor Relations" link at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to register and download any necessary software.replay.

There is something discomfiting about the phrase 'designer denim', given that jeans are supposed to be inherently practical, democratic and affordable. I wear mine on a near-daily basis, rotating between half a dozen different pairs; and though they are a variety of shapes and shades, several dating back a decade or so (skinny, cropped, flared; dark indigo, classic blue, faded grey), none cost over £50, and most far less.It is therefore with some caution that I mention the revival of expensive denim; but it seems to be gathering speed, despite economic stagnation and other global anxieties, to the extent that financial analysts are taking notice. Their general verdict is that last year the denim market was sagging - down six per cent in America - but a shift from skinny jeans to flares has given sales a recent boost, particularly among the high-end labels like J Brand or True Religion , where prices rise upwards of £200.Certainly, Net-a-porter has confidence in the selling power of expensive denim: Stella McCartney 's cropped flares for £285, and Derek Lam 's wide-legged jeans already sold out at £360 a pair. Skinny designer jeans still haven't gone away - Net-a-porter is selling Balmain 's black and white striped version for £1,165, which seems to me an unfeasibly high price, but apparently there's an eager market (indeed, several sizes are now out of stock). And on recent trips to Paris I've observed just as many chic Parisiennes remaining faithful to their narrow jeans as adopting flares.
So I'm not sure whether we're at a tipping point, or if an economic recovery can be read into the shift from the familiar skinny outline towards wider legs (typical of how the pendulum of fashion swings towards volume, while models shrink ever smaller). And even if flares do come to predominate in the coming months, as is being predicted by any number of pundits, then what might this indicate for financial markets? After all, flares predominated in the gloomy 1970s, when stocks crashed as jeans flapped around the ankles.

All things considered, I'm not going to risk further debt for the sake of a new piece of Stella McCartney denim (though I do very much like the look of it), but I will contribute a tiny personal effort towards consumer confidence by wearing Gap mid-rise flares. They take some getting used to - there's less room for waistline spillage, and they don't work with roomy tops or knee-high boots - but I'm not chucking out the old favourites; for in fashion, as in life, what goes up must also come down…

There is a battle going on within the Catholic Church that reflects the battle also occurring within American society: whether to cede individual freedom to a central power that simultaneously seeks less accountability for its actions. And in both cases, the forces of greater authority seek a great leap backwards past the social contract beliefs of the Enlightenment: a course of action that spells danger for American democracy. The battle of divine right monarchy versus liberal democracy continues.As a Catholic, I often have to remind myself that the Church itself is something of a monarchy.  She is the direct descendant of the Roman Empire, seeing herself as something as God's government on Earth. But instead of a Caesar who commands armies, there is a pope who commands a religious hierarchy of sorts. And outside of the College of Cardinals who choose a pope, there is little popular democracy involved in Vatican affairs. It should then be no surprise that the more ultra-traditionalist, ultra-orthodox minded leaders of the Church often find conservatively autocratic societies more to their liking.The Church has often been ruled by autocratic popes such as Pius IX, a pontiff who saw himself as the very personification of Catholicism (Pius IX, who began as a liberal reformer, evolved into a reactionary. He is perhaps best known for his kidnapping and raising of a Jewish child, Edgardo Mortara, from his parents). Perhaps rays of light such as Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI, were aberrations, She now seems to be heading back in that direction.
During Vatican II, there was a move by John XXIII to inject a tolerance for dissenting opinions. The Church made peace with liberal democracy and modernity and began bringing herself up to date on many matters through the process of aggiornomento. This necessary process continued to a slightly less extent under his successor, but was quelled mercilessly by the more autocratic John Paul II. That policy continues under Benedict XVI.

As with John Paul II, Benedict XVI seeks counsel from those who find little or no satisfaction with liberal democracy. They view the "golden age" of the Catholic Church as the Middle Ages, the time before Renaissance, Enlightenment and of course Reformation. This, we must remember is a world where the Church never had to justify any of its actions. This is the view of men such as Rev. John McCloskey, George Weigel and Michael Novak. These are men who seek to knock down the wall separating church and state and have ultra-orthodox Catholic morality define secular law.

In both Part Five as well as in Part Eight the issue of monarchy was broached. It is in their affinity for Carlism of Spain's not-so-distant past that more extreme elements of the Catholic Right we can find an understanding.

For ultra-traditional Catholics such as Messrs. McCloskey, Weigel and Novak, any disagreement with an orthodox understanding of Catholic morality is viewed as being hostile to all religious thought. That is because for these Catholics there is no other true religion; Catholicism and religion is one and the same thing. In their minds, the "freedom of religion" means the freedom of their religion. While their ideal society would tolerate the practice of other faiths, it would not tolerate different notions of good and evil. Episcopalian or Jewish law--which both unlike Catholic teachings support embryonic stem cell research and divorce--would have little or no bearing on the national discourse--unless it converged with ultra-traditional Catholic teachings. Legal birth control would also be subject to greater limitation. And for these folks yesteryear's Spain, replete with Catholic monarchs and subsequently with strongman Francisco Franco, is more akin to their dream society: national morality not arrived at by commonly shared notions of good and evil, but one decreed by a subjective theology.

Allison Phillips' three-year stint in Los Angeles was the inspiration for Hollywood Threadz, a combo resale/new clothing store she opened with a business partner last fall."They had a lot of stores like this," Phillips said. But she had never seen anything like it in Milwaukee.
Hollywood Threadz, at 801 N. Mayfair Road, aims at the teen and young adult consumer, and sells resale and new clothes for men and women, plus a small offering of resale baby and toddler clothes. It's the first retail apparel venture for Phillips and Lisa Smith, each of whom owns another business.

Phillips' A+J Promotions company puts logos on just about anything, from T-shirts to pens. Smith operates 2 Burn, business that sells ventless fireplaces fueled by gel. Both say the new store has been a learning experience, starting with their grand opening last year on the day after Thanksgiving.

"I don't know why we thought Black Friday was the best idea," Phillips said. They envisioned a line at their door on what they knew was one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Turns out that's only true for big retail chains offering doorbusters. Hollywood Threadz opened quietly and has gained customers slowly, the owners say.

"We forgot what it's like to start new," Phillips, 37, said.

Smith, 44, said the new venture provides some new positive energy for her after struggling through the recession with the gel fireplace business.

"I love clothes. I have far too many," Smith said. "But I didn't want just a resale business."

She decided that if she could get the name brands for the new store, she'd go ahead with it.

Hollywood Threadz has new clothing from Dirtee Hollywood, Seven, Aeropostale, Buffalo, Silver, Division E and True Religion, offered at a discount because Phillips buys from a Los Angeles liquidator. True Religion jeans with a full-price ticket of $300, for example, sell for $100.

The store also offers new T-shirts with slogans by Phillips and Smith, printed at Phillips' logo shop.

The women opened the store just three months after creating their business plan. They looked at real estate on W. Blue Mound Road in Brookfield and in Shorewood. But they settled on the site in the Promenade strip mall in Wauwatosa, for the same price as Blue Mound Road space, because of its proximity to Mayfair mall, and because there weren't other resale shops nearby.

They thought their Hollywood Threadz store might get lost in the crowd of apparel retailers on Blue Mound Road, Phillips said. Their neighbors in the Promenade center include a restaurant, a woodworking store, a ham store and a number of service retailers.

Used clothing at Hollywood Threadz is brand-name. Like most other resale shops, Hollywood Threadz won't buy used clothing from Kohl's, Target, Walmart or other low-price chains.

Customers who sell to Hollywood Threadz are paid cash immediately, or they can choose store credit and get a bit more for their sale.

Stocking the store with resale items was a challenge, so the owners bought mostly new items to fill it - about 70% of the stock. Now the mix is about 50-50, Phillips said.

The owners have done some newspaper and radio ads, as well as event sponsorships and coupon distribution at community events. More recently, they've launched social media efforts.

Developing a following among teens is the goal, Phillips said. Most of the customers who visit now are employees of nearby Froedtert Hospital who have heard about Hollywood Threadz from co-workers.

The good news is that eight out of 10 people who visit the store make a purchase.

"That's a high conversion rate. It tells you that they have the potential for a loyal customer base, if they can bring people in," said Dick Seesel, a consultant who operates Retail in Focus in Mequon.

The location in a strip mall with dissimilar businesses makes Hollywood Threadz strictly a destination store. It's not likely to benefit from any foot traffic in the center, Seesel said.

"You want to be where the action is, or the competition is already drawing your customer," he said. "There's a reason why car dealers all go to the same place."