U. S. clothier, Express, the No. 6 specialty retail apparel brand’s sales fell and it faced a hard time selling investors on its initial public offering, despite a recovering retail industry.

Express, backed by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, has 573 stores selling clothing aimed primarily at 20- to 30-year-old women.

It has to overcome investors' fears about global expansion and a still-lukewarm market for women's clothing which lapsed during the financial crisis.

"They were a leveraged buyout at the top of the market", said IPOdesktop. com President Francis Gaskins.

"Despite what Blackstone, Carlyle, and KKR are saying, private equity, high-debt offerings are not being well received", IPO Boutique Senior Managing Partner Scott Sweet said.

Michael Dart, head of the private equity practice at retail consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates, estimates that overall women's apparel sales will rise 3.8% in 2010 and 4.5% during 2011.

Express' balance sheet shows that the Columbus, Ohio-based company had $763 million in total liabilities, and $860 million in total assets.

Until the brand gets momentum back in the U. S., international growth is probably a limited opportunity and unnecessary at this point", said Needham & Co. Retail Analyst Christine Chen.

Express' net income grew to $29.3 million from a loss of $1.9 million in the year-earlier period.