One has to wonder who is setting these expectations in the first place, and if they should consider medication for their delusions, but it's a little late now.

Trans World Entertainment Corporation (Nasdaq: TWMC) today reported a comparable store sales decrease of 12% for the nine-week period ended January 5, 2008. For the five-week period ended January 5, 2008, comparable store sales decreased 13%. Total sales for the nine-week period were $378 million compared to $469 million for the same period last year, a decrease of 19%. Total sales for the five-week period decreased 24% to $264 million compared to $348 million for the same period last year. The Company operated 14% fewer stores, on average, during the nine-week period as compared to last year.

"Sales for the holiday season were well below our expectations," commented Robert J. Higgins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Trans World Entertainment. "As a result, we expect to report a net loss for fiscal 2007 in a range of $15 to $20 million."

For the eleven-month period ended January 5, 2008, comparable store sales decreased 9%. Total sales for the period decreased 12% to $1.192 billion compared to $1.353 billion during the same period last year.

At very least, Barnes & Noble had the Harry Potter book to prop up "disappointing music sales"; what did FYE have to offer? An excellent selection of High School Musical 2 posters? The question isn't really how Trans World will react, but possibly whether next Christmas you'll be able to purchase list price discs from one of the company's retailers at all.

Trans World Entertainment Reports a 12% Decline in Comparable Store Sales for the 2007 Holiday Season [PR Newswire]
Music Sales Weak at Barnes & Noble [Wall Street Journal]

"The name f.y.e. — For Your Entertainment — says it all," [marketing director Barry] Burmaster said. "Our brand is about offering all kinds of entertainment products, not just music."

That's why, in addition to hosting a steady stream of in-store musical performances, f.y.e. also has scheduled events such as an appearance by members of Nashville-based Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, which airs on cable network SpikeTV.

There's a reason f.y.e. is interested in selling more than just music.

The company saw November and December same-store sales for music decline 12% compared with the same period the previous year.

"Holiday sales were disappointing and well below our expectations,'' Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Higgins said in a recent conference call.

While that downward sales trend echoes the rest of the record industry, it's hard not to think that there are two things preventing FYE from bringing new customers into its stores—the fact that its prices are substantially higher than those of its big-box competitors (a woman interviewed later in the article says that she buys all of her CDs at Target, where prices for major titles are frequently $3-$4 less than FYE's, and other titles are even more expensive) and the fact that, despite Burmaster's assertion, "FYE" is a terrible name. In a way, though, it's a feat: It's not every day that you run into an indecipherable acronym representing a phrase that makes even less sense to everyone who isn't employed by the letter-wielding company.

Tower's replacement puts music in racks and onstage [Tennessean.com]