Joe's Jeans CEO Talks to TheStreet

LOS ANGELES (TheStreet) -- Joe's Jeans (JOEZ) has seen its share price nearly triple even as the company moves out of its comfort zone of premium denim products and works to open a handful of new retail stores.

Joe's Jeans said net sales increased 41% to $23.2 million in the first quarter, with nearly 20% of those sales coming from non-denim product category. The company's stock has rocketed from $1.50 in October to $3.60 in April, the highest level in nearly five years.

Joe's Jeans CEO Marc Crossman sat down for a conversation with TheStreet shortly after the company reported first-quarter results to discuss the company's recent history, the challenges of launching its new non-denim products in a very competitive market, and excitement over new retail stores opening soon.

TheStreet: What's your general take on Joe's Jeans business and your view of the industry?

Crossman: As you know, we've historically been in the premium denim business, defined by our group as over $120. So you're talking about True Religion (TRLG), 7 Jeans, Rock & Republic. The business as we see it is good, although it's not in that explosive category that it used to be. Look at True Religion. They were doubling the size of their company every 12 months just on the wholesale side of the business.

The days of floor space being expanded and sell-through of 25% per week and those astronomical numbers are gone. But it's still a very attractive, very profitable business, talking from the department store standpoint. For our retailers, it's a very profitable business. It's not a business that is highly trend-specific, if you will. You're not in and out and constantly rotating. The core basic denim styles can be run for up to a year. There is such a good, healthy core component to it.

For us, the business grows anywhere from 10% to 15%. It varies from quarter to quarter due to seasonality, but I would say that's probably a good approximation of what the business is doing. I know we're taking market share. I can't tell if the business overall is growing at that healthy of a clip, but it's certainly not declining now.

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