Web sales rising fast at Mothers Work

Growth in Internet sales outstripped the rate of growth for in-store sales during March at Mothers Work Inc., Philadelphia, one of the world's largest manufacturers and retailers of maternity apparel. The company, which aggregates its several store brands on the web under Maternitymalls.com, saw web sales rise 43.2% from last March. By contrast, store sales decreased 1.5% from the previous month versus a store sales increase of 12.6% for March 2000.

Total sales for March rose 7.5% to $35.7 million from $33.3 million for March 2000. For the second quarter ended March 31, total net sales rose 6.3% to $88.9 million from $83.7 million in the second quarter of 2000. “Our revenues continued to grow during the month of March due to new store locations and Internet sales,” says Rebecca Matthias, CEO. In March, the company opened seven stores and closed one, ending the month with 751 locations compared to 669 in March 2000.