Selling and administrative expenses for the retail segment consist primarily of freight, advertising expense, employee costs, and rent and occupancy costs. Retail selling and administrative expenses were $3.9 million, or 55% of net sales, in the third quarter of 2022 versus $2.9 million, or 46% of net sales, in the third quarter of 2021. For the nine months ended September 30, retail selling and administrative expenses were $12.1 million, or 54% of net sales, in 2022 and $8.7 million, or 48% of net sales, in 2021. The increases in 2022 were mainly due to higher e-commerce expenses, primarily outbound freight and advertising.
Retail operating earnings were $825,000 for the quarter, down 41% compared to $1.4 million in last year’s third quarter. For the nine months ended September 30, retail operating earnings were $2.8 million in 2022, down 17% from $3.3 million in 2021. The decreases for the quarter and year-to-date periods were primarily due to lower earnings from our e-commerce businesses, as higher sales were offset by higher selling and administrative expenses.
Other
Our other businesses include our wholesale and retail operations of Florsheim Australia and Florsheim Europe (which closed in 2021). Other net sales for the third quarter of 2022 were $8.2 million, up 54% compared to $5.3 million in the third quarter of 2021, due to higher sales at Florsheim Australia. In local currency, Florsheim Australia’s net sales were up 71% for the quarter, due to higher sales in both its retail and wholesale businesses. Last year’s third quarter results were negatively impacted by COVID-19 related lockdowns which resulted in a large number of Florsheim Australia’s stores being closed for a majority of the quarter.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, other net sales were $22.6 million, down 1% compared to $22.7 million in the same period one year ago. The decrease in 2022 was due to the closing of Florsheim Europe, mostly offset by higher sales at Florsheim Australia. Florsheim Australia’s net sales for the first nine months of 2022 were up 11% compared to the same period in 2021. In local currency, Florsheim Australia’s net sales were up 19% for the year-to-date period, with sales up in both its retail and wholesale businesses. Florsheim Australia’s sales for the first nine months of 2022 rebounded to 100% of 2019 levels.
Other operating earnings recovered to $476,000 for the quarter from operating losses of $682,000 in last year’s third quarter. This increase was due to improved performance of our retail and online businesses in Australia. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, other operating earnings totaled $598,000 compared to operating losses of $445,000 in the same period last year. The year-to-date increase was primarily due to improved performance in Australia, but also due to the shedding of losses at Florsheim Europe.
Other income and expense
Interest income was $86,000 and $186,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, interest income was $266,000 in 2022 and $505,000 in 2021. The decreases in 2022 were due to less interest earned on the lower cash and investment balances this year. Interest expense increased $197,000 and $128,000 during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, compared to the same periods of 2021, due to the higher debt balance this year.
Other income, net, was $141,000 for the quarter compared to $76,000 in last year’s third quarter. For the year-to-date period, other income, net, totaled $316,000 in 2022 and $403,000 in 2021.
Our effective income tax rates for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 were 24.4% and 27.7%, respectively. Our effective income tax rates for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 were 24.8% and 25.7%, respectively. The 2022 and 2021 effective tax rates differed from the federal rate of 21% primarily because of state taxes and the benefit of tax-free municipal bond income.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Our primary sources of liquidity are our cash, short-term investments, short-term marketable securities, and our revolving line of credit. During the first nine months of 2022, our operations resulted in a net $42.1 million use of cash, mainly to fund inventory purchases. Our overall inventory balance was $112.0 million at September 30, 2022, up from $52.9 million at September 30, 2021. We have been building our inventories to meet the increased demand for our products. The supply chain continues to improve and delivery times have become shorter and more consistent. For Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 product, we planned our receipt of inventory to be earlier than normal to ensure on-time delivery to our customers. As we plan for Fall 2023, our lead times with manufacturing have returned closer to historical norms which will allow us to bring in product closer to the season.