Birks & Mayors announced that net sales during the fiscal 2012 holiday season increased by 5 percent. The company’s net sales totaled $79.5 million compared to net sales of $75.5 million during last year’s holiday season.

Comparable store sales during the holiday season increased by 3 percent on a consolidated basis with comparable store sales in Canada increasing by 4 percent and U.S. comparable store sales growing by 2 percent.

“The holiday season began with good sales momentum, however, during the final weeks before Christmas we experienced strong declines in customer traffic in our stores,” said Thomas A. Andruskevich, Birks & Mayors’ president and chief executive officer in a statement. “However, we continued to stay true to our merchandising and marketing strategies which allowed us to increase our gross margin and as a result, we expect to deliver improved operating performance over the prior holiday period.”

JCK