Coldwater Creek continues retail expansion

SANDPOINT — If there is a sluggish economy gripping the nation, it's not putting the brakes of the growth of Coldwater Creek.

The national retailer of women's apparel and accessories announced it has increased next year's retail store expansion plans by 20 percent. The company now plans to open approximately 60 new full-line stores in 2005.

Previously, Coldwater Creek had said it would open close to 50 stores next year.

"We believe there is a unique opportunity for our brand to gain market share by putting new stores in additional markets during the coming year," said Coldwater Creek Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Pence.

"Our retail team is on track to add a total of 48 stores this year, and their execution for these openings has been outstanding. Given that successful performance, we believe increasing our store openings for 2005 is the right direction for the company."

The company said Executive Vice-president of Retail Stores Dan Griesemer has been instrumental in the development of the "core" and "smaller" store formats that are the foundation of Coldwater Creek's retail expansion strategy.

The core stores average approximately 5,500 square feet, while the smaller model measures approximately 3.500 square feet.

"Using these two formats, we have been very effective in our efforts to build the Coldwater Creek brand in both mall and lifestyle center settings," Griesemer said. "As part of our strategic shift toward a retail store business model, we believe there is an opportunity to grow to 400-500 stores."

Coldwater Creek was founded in 1984 as a catalog company and introduced its e-commerce business in 1999. using a multi-channel approach to selling, the company has grown to become a national retailer of women's apparel, jewelry, accessories and fit items through a growing number of full-line retail stories, on the Internet and through direct-mail catalogs.