Clothestime Plans to Buy Back Up to 1 Million Common Shares

Clothestime, whose stock has lost 75% of its market value since early this year, announced Wednesday that it plans to rebuy up to 1 million common shares.

Retail stocks have been especially hard hit during the market decline of the past month, but few have fallen as far as Clothestime, an Anaheim-based operator of 338 women’s apparel stores across the country.

Clothestime stock closed Wednesday at $6.25 per share, unchanged for the day; it was selling for up to $24.75 last summer. One million shares represents about 7% of outstanding Clothestime stock.

In the last month, at least 15 other Orange County firms have announced plans to buy back their stock to take advantage of low prices in the aftermath of the Oct. 19 market crash. Those companies include UniCare Financial, AFG Industries, Datum, Far West Financial, Cimco, Safeguard Health Enterprises, Archive, Carl Karcher Enterprises, EECO, Eldorado Bancorp, Fidelity National, Gradco Systems, PacifiCare Health Systems, Silicon Systems and Western Digital.