Sharper Image’s Loss Widens as Its Revenue Tumbles 20%

Sharper Image Corp. reported a wider fiscal third-quarter loss Tuesday as the specialty retailer was hurt by slow store traffic and a sluggish response to its direct-marketing efforts.

In extended trading, shares of San Francisco-based Sharper Image declined more than 8% to $9.05. The stock, which fell 9 cents to $9.89 in regular trading, is down nearly 48% this year.

Sharper Image, whose products include massage chairs and air purifiers, reported a third-quarter loss of $10.5 million, or 70 cents a share, compared with a loss of $3.7 million, or 24 cents, a year earlier. Excluding a research-and-development tax credit, the loss would have been 75 cents a share.

Analysts, on average, had expected a loss of 72 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, Sharper Image said revenue fell 20% to $123.1 million and that sales at stores open at least a year -- a key measure of a retailer’s performance -- fell 18%.

When the company reported its October sales, it said that it was experiencing year-over-year declines in key categories, that its store traffic was slow and that it was getting a sluggish response to direct marketing.

Sharper Image, which has been referring to 2005 as a transition year, is trying to strengthen its product selection and cut costs.