Chico's Tries Plain Talk, Pfizer Fakes It

For the first time in world history, The Business Press Maven is going to attempt -- without a net -- the dangerous feat of comparing Pfizer (PFE Quote) with Chico's (CHS Quote).

Here goes.

Chico's has done it again. No, I don't mean that it reported good sales. But it did once more take an honest public posture on bad sales. The company is becoming a test case of whether honesty and a degree of plain talk are ultimately the best strategy during difficult times to avoid getting caught in your own delusions and to build a base of trust with investors rather than throw it all down a tube of jargon and false claims.

The Business Press Maven first highlighted Chico's three months ago, nearly to the day.

While many retailers were blaming weather for their struggles, Chico's said its woeful same-store sales and slashed earnings forecast had only one cause. OK, two. Its merchandising stank, and so did its marketing.

This was a company that had delivered for a decade straight. To The Business Press Maven, its simple "my bad" language vs. "it was too hot or it wasn't hot enough" meant that it was not deceiving either itself or investors about its challenges.

Well, Chico's reported after the market's close yesterday and, in a nutshell, things didn't get much better. But there it was again, talking about how it was felled, in large part, by fashion "missteps" and "errors." Honesty can, of course, become a weird fetish. You should not get points for it indefinitely. But here -- from a company that delivered for so long -- it should buy it a temporary benefit of the doubt. At least you know that management has no "mission accomplished" delusions.