Piper Jaffray Comments On Coldwater Creek Following Analyst Day

Following Piper Jaffray's attendance at Coldwater Creek's CWTR analyst event in New York City yesterday, it believes there are some encouraging signs that Coldwater Creek's merchandising team is moving in the right direction. Specifically, it believes that critical new hires, a new catalog format, and a change in the company's merchandise presentation could all be positive catalysts in 2011. Piper Jaffray remains on the sidelines for now, however, in view of sourcing pressures and a highly promotional retail environment. New hires could be laying the foundation for improvement in 2011. Management discussed several additional recent hires in the organization, notably a chief merchandising officer and a head designer for jewelry, which is a category identified as a significant opportunity for growth. Management believes that poor in-store visual merchandising played a prominent role in Coldwater Creek's disappointing top-line performance in the back half of FY11, and that improved store displays will be crucial for regaining lost sales. Specifically, management is focused on segmenting its stores based on which items go together as part of one theme or lifestyle, as opposed to its prior presentation, which in Piper's opinion was heavily item-driven. Piper Jaffray has a Neutral rating on CWTR CWTR closed Tuesday at $2.60