The yin and yang of retailer’s success stories these days in troubling economic times makes for very interesting analysis. On the one hand, this week PacSun announced continued struggles with a 3% same-store sales decrease for the third quarter. Meanwhile, fast-fashion retailer H&M has fans around the block waiting for the Lanvin [hearts] H&M masstige collaboration debut in New York, parts of Europe, and Asia.

PacSun, an action sports-inspired retailer that is quite popular among youth culture, has lost momentum over the last couple of years, and most recently, with less sales coming from their young women’s collection vs. young males. Their third quarter net sales were $258 million compared with $268 million at the same time last year.

“Our third quarter results were led by positive comps in our Men%uFFFDs business and significant improvement in the sales trending of our Women%uFFFDs business,” said Gary H. Schoenfeld, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are eagerly anticipating Black Friday and the kickoff of the holiday season and the prospects for further strengthening of both our Men%uFFFDs and Women%uFFFDs businesses.”