In the first quarter, we achieved revenue growth of 15% over the same period last year, which resulted in our first quarterly sales of more than $1.4 billion.
The $1.43 billion first quarter sales were also an 11.9% increase over first quarter 2019, which was then a record for the period.
Driving the record sales was 20.2% increase in our international business and an 8.5% increase in our domestic business.
This double-digit growth drove international sales to 57.8% of total sales in the first quarter.
Our International Wholesale business grew 23.8% for the first quarter last year and 13% from 2019.
The quarterly sales growth was driven by an increase of 174% in China, which was severely impacted by the pandemic in the prior year.
However, even as compared to 2019, China grew 45.5%.
Subsidiary sales decreased 4.8% from 2020 but improved 4.2% from 2019.
Our distributor business was down 6.5% from last year, yet several markets experienced growth in the quarter, specifically Russia, Taiwan, Turkey and Ukraine.
Sales in our Domestic Wholesale business decreased less than 1% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2020 but improved 8.1% compared to the first quarter of 2019.
Additionally, the average selling price per pair increased 2.7%, reflecting the strength and appeal of new comfort products and technologies.
Skechers direct-to-consumer business increased 18.1% over 2020 and 13.1% over 2019, despite the fact that domestic operating hours were reduced by approximately 15% during January and February, and 7% in March.
In our international company-owned stores, we lost 37% of the days available to sell during the quarter.
Our domestic direct-to-consumer sales increased 28.4% compared to the first quarter of 2020 and 18% compared to 2019.
This improvement came from our domestic e-commerce channel, which grew by 143% and our brick and mortar stores, which grew by 13.6%.
Our domestic direct-to-consumer average selling price per unit rose 10.9%, which speaks to the strength of our current product offering.
Our international direct-to-consumer business increased 1.9% over the first quarter of 2020 and 4.4% over 2019.
In the first quarter, we opened 12 company-owned Skechers stores, six of which are in international location, including our largest store in India.
We closed 20 locations in the first quarter as we opted not to renew expiring leases, and we expect to close one additional store at the end of this month.
An additional net 106 third-party Skechers stores opened in the first quarter, bringing our total store count at quarter end to 3,989.
The stores that opened were across 16 countries with most located in China and India.
In the first quarter, we were awarded Company of the Year by leading industry publication, Footwear Plus, for the ninth time in 15 years.
We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter, I think this was a solid beginning, especially given the ongoing pandemic-related difficulties most recently impacting our international business, which now represents 58% of our total sales.
Sales in the quarter achieved a new record, totaling $1.43 billion, an increase of $186.1 million or 15% from the prior year and an impressive 11.9% increase over the first quarter of 2019.
On a constant currency basis, sales increased $145.9 million or 11.7%.
International Wholesale sales increased 23.8% in the quarter compared with the first quarter of 2020 and 13.4% compared with the first quarter of 2019.
Our joint ventures grew an impressive 120% in the quarter led by China, which grew 174% against prior year results, which contained the most severe impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
As compared to the first quarter of 2019, China grew 45.5% driven by strong e-commerce performance.
Subsidiary sales declined slightly in the quarter by 4.8%, primarily as a result of continuing closures in Europe and Latin America.
However, as compared to 2019, our subsidiary sales grew an impressive 4.2% despite the current year operational restrictions.
As expected, our distributor business continued to face pandemic headwinds in the first quarter, decreasing 6.5% but saw a marked improvement as compared to the second half of 2020.
Domestic Wholesale sales decreased slightly in the quarter by less than 1%, primarily due to the unfavorable timing of shipments to customers, which we now expect to occur in the second quarter.
Compared to the first quarter of 2019, sales increased 8.1%, which we believe is more reflective of the positive underlying trends we are seeing with the majority of our domestic wholesale partners, particularly based on sell-through we observed in the back half of the quarter.
Direct-to-consumer sales returned to growth in the quarter increasing 18.1%, the result of a 28.4% increase domestically and a 1.9% increase internationally.
The results reflect a slight benefit from the pandemic store closures in the prior year but more importantly, also reflect a notable 143% increase in our domestic e-commerce business and a significant increase in store traffic and sales in March, a trend that has continued.
Gross profit was $679.6 million, up 24.1% or $131.9 million compared to the prior year.
Gross margin was 47.6%, an increase of 350 basis points versus the prior year, primarily driven by increases in our average selling price across all segments as well as a favorable mix of online sales.
Total operating expenses increased by $19.9 million or 3.9% to $528 million in the quarter.
Selling expenses increased by $11.2 million or 15.2% to $85.3 million, which was flat as a percentage of sales versus last year.
General and administrative expenses increased slightly by $8.6 million or 2% to $442.7 million, which was primarily the result of volume-driven expenses in warehouse and distribution for both our international and domestic e-commerce businesses.
Earnings from operations was $157.7 million versus prior year earnings of $44.8 million.
This represents an increase of 252% or $112.9 million.
Operating margin was 11% compared with 3.6% a year ago and 13% in 2019, reflecting strong combination of top line performance and operating expense leverage despite ongoing pandemic-related challenges.
Net earnings were $98.6 million or $0.63 per diluted share on 155.9 million diluted shares outstanding.
This compares to prior-year net income of $49.1 million or $0.32 per diluted share on 154.7 million diluted shares outstanding.
Our effective income tax rate for the quarter was 20.2% versus 15.3% in the same period last year.
We ended the quarter with $1.51 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments, which was an increase of $148.2 million or 10.8% from March 31, 2020.
Trade accounts receivable at quarter end were $798.8 million, an increase of $2.6 million from March 31, 2020.
Total inventory was $1.07 billion, an increase of 8.3% or $81.8 million from March 31, 2020.
Total debt, including both current and long-term portions, was $779.7 million at March 31, 2021 compared to $699.8 million at March 31, 2020.
Capital expenditures for the first quarter were $84.2 million, of which $42.9 million related to the expansion of our joint venture-owned domestic distribution center, $13.8 million related to investment in our new corporate offices in Southern California, $12.4 million related to investments in our direct-to-consumer technology and retail stores and $3.6 million related to our new distribution center in China.
For the remainder of 2021, we expect total capital expenditures to be between $200 million and $250 million.
We expect second quarter 2021 sales to be in the range of between $1.45 billion and $1.5 billion and net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of between $0.40 and $0.50.
For fiscal year 2021, we expect sales to be in the range of between $5.8 billion and $5.9 billion and net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of between $1.80 and $2.
We also anticipate that gross margins for the full year will be flat or up slightly compared to 2020 and that our effective tax rate for the year will be approximately 20%.
We achieved a new quarterly sales record over $1.4 billion due to the strong demand for our comfort technology footwear and markets where we are open.
International, which is approximately 58% of our total sales was the biggest driver, but we saw strong improvements in our domestic business with increasing traffic in March and now in April.
In addition, our new 1.5 million square foot China distribution center remains on track for full implementation by mid-year.
Given today is Earth Day, I'd like to note that we are continuing to work on the expansion of our LEED Gold certified North American distribution center, which will bring our facility in Southern California to 2.6 million square feet in 2022.
We are also completing construction on Phase 1 of our new LEED Gold certified office buildings and we are increasing efficiencies in our existing corporate office buildings, including the addition of solar panels.

Summary:
The $1.43 billion first quarter sales were also an 11.9% increase over first quarter 2019, which was then a record for the period.
Sales in the quarter achieved a new record, totaling $1.43 billion, an increase of $186.1 million or 15% from the prior year and an impressive 11.9% increase over the first quarter of 2019.
Net earnings were $98.6 million or $0.63 per diluted share on 155.9 million diluted shares outstanding.
We expect second quarter 2021 sales to be in the range of between $1.45 billion and $1.5 billion and net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of between $0.40 and $0.50.
For fiscal year 2021, we expect sales to be in the range of between $5.8 billion and $5.9 billion and net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of between $1.80 and $2.