Susanne Owen, also known as The Trading Nymph, says in TheStreet.com “I have a retail play that’s had a more than 70% stock price increase since March and a 1,100% earnings surprise since it last reported — yet no one ever mentions it. Now that I have your attention, you probably want to know the name and why it is so good. Well, the name is Jo-Ann Stores, and it sells fabric.”
In addition to fabric, Jo-Ann’s also sells sewing notions, quilting supplies, craft textiles and much more. Management has recently spoken about how the company historically has done better during recessions. CEO Darrell Webb stated “We also expect to be insulated from a downturn to a certain extent by the strong demographics of our shoppers and the steady performance of the sewing and craft industry in previous recessions. Nonetheless, we have planned the year conservatively from a financial perspective.”
Webb went on to explain that, based on performance reports, in the two most-recent recession years — 2001 and 1999 — retailers in the craft and sewing business had better same-store sales increases than in the prior and following years.
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