Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from the line of Eric Beder – Brean Murray.
Eric Beder – Brean Murray
Let’s talk a little bit about the U.S. stores. Could you talk a little bit about the comps for U.S. for Q2 was it the same throughout both Marciano and G by Guess and the Guess comps or was there significant variation between those? If there were, what were the different drivers in those units?
Carlos Alberini
We do not address comps by division. I can tell you there were some variations between brands. The retail comps were probably the most significantly down and it was driven by traffic in the malls. We believe the traffic has been the main driver for the comp decline. That has been pretty consistent throughout every month of the quarter.
Operator
The next question comes from the line of Omar Saad – Credit Suisse.
Omar Saad – Credit Suisse
I want to understand a little bit better the Europe and the pull forward of shipments. What kind of customers, is it across the board in Europe? Is it purely a timing issue where they are trying to get goods in early? Is there a question or changing of underlying demand level there? Do you see any patterns? It seems pretty lumpy. Last quarter you had a pull forward in the fourth quarter. Help us understand this dynamic. What is the underlying kind of business reason why this has been lumpy for this quarter?
Carlos Alberini
This is something we have been really doing and have been very successful so far. We have been trying to really move the business into the earlier quarters for both the first six months of the year and the second. The idea here is to have a much smoother calendar with operating with four seasons the way we operate in the states. Over there historically the market has operated with two seasons that shift at the beginning of each of those six month periods and we have been trying to really change that business model because it would help the opportunity for early demand being satisfied. It would open the opportunity for reorders later in the season and it moves the investment in inventory for both our customers and ourselves.
We are very pleased with the fact we have been able to move a lot of the business from third quarter into the second being very successful and very profitable. The change we think it has been very effective. We feel that we are reaching now a level where we are comfortable with the way the business is running. The last change has been more impactful on the apparel business which was the last big business we wanted to effect this change. So it is across the board. We are offering this pre-collection line and people love the product and want it in earlier. We ship, fortunately we have the product in the warehouses and we were able to ship accordingly.
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