Rocky Brands, the American footwear company that trades under the Durango, Georgia Boot, Lehigh and Rocky brands, has reported a 33.8 percent sales increase to $59.4 million for the second quarter, with gains in the wholesale, retail and military segments. Double-digit increases were scored in work and hunting boots. Durango's western and lifestyle collections enjoyed an overall sales increase of 68 percent. Retail sales rose by 7.0 percent, but wholesale went up by 32.1 percent from the same period a year ago, when $2.5 million worth of sales were shifted from the second to the third quarter because of a power failure at Rocky's distribution center in Ohio, as a result of severe storms. For the first six months of this year, group sales were up by only 15.8 percent to $113.1 million. The gross margin declined in the second quarter to 34.2 from 34.6 percent a year ago because of higher military sales. Higher advertising expenses did not prevent the company from raising its operating margin from 1.0 to 4.8 percent of sales, thanks to the higher turnover. The bottom line showed a quarterly net income of $1.8 million, up from $0.2 million. Also for the first half of the year, net profit was up to $2.7 million from $0.9 million.

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