Shares of Fort Myers-based Chico’s tumbled more than 20-percent Thursday. It comes a day after the women’s specialty clothing company announced a disappointing outlook for next year. In a conference call, Chico’s C-E-O Scott Edmonds said August has been a disappointment for the company. Chico’s operates more than 800 stores under the Chico’s name and White House | Black Market, Soma and Fitigues. Edmonds said for the first time in nine years, the company sales sagged and he cited a stale marketing campaign, specifically the monthly catalog books they mail to customers.

“If you go pull our books from five years ago and you look at them and look at the book that went out in July, there’s not much difference. After a while, it starts to look like wallpaper. We have to spend as much time and effort on revitalizing our marketing effort as we do on our merchandise.”

Edmonds said they’ve already hired a marketing expert who is making changes and he expects to see improvements soon. But earnings will continue to be hurt because of the company’s expansion plans.

---

Investors punished shares of Chico’s Thursday. The Fort Myers-based women’s clothing company announced its sales for the rest of the year would be impacted by a sluggish marketing campaign and changes in its growth plans. In a teleconference today, Chico’s C-E-O Scott Edmonds said the company has already hired a new marketing expert. They’re also planning how to improve sales at their stores, which are projected to be lower for the first time in nine years.

“We’re in a show-me mode. We have to show each other and show the investment community that we can correct this and deliver and that’s where all of our focus is.”

Chico’s operates more than 800 stores around the country under the Chico’s name and also White House/Black Market and Soma. More than 12-thousand people work for the company. Its stock traded down more than 20-percent today.