Factory 2-U initiates recovery plan to cater to higher-income consumer.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

SAN DIEGO -- Still reeling from a terrible year in which comparable store sales dropped 8.7%, off-price retailer Factory 2-U has implemented a recovery plan that entails closing stores, subtle merchandising changes and a new advertising strategy. It's all part of its plan to become more resilient to economic fluctuations by reaching out to a higher-income demographic with newspaper advertising and by adding select hard lines categories to offset continued softness in apparel sales.

"We had a bad year," ceo Mike Searles told DSN Retailing Today. "Clearly our core customer was injured economically."

While total sales for the year ended Feb. 2, 2002, rose 4.5% to $580.5 million, due …