Rocky Brands has reported 22.5 percent higher sales of $65.8 million for the first quarter of 2014, with strong double-digit growth in all its major categories and higher military sales. The management said it was also pleased with the initial performance of Creative Recreation, a brand of sneakers bought at the end of last year. Total wholesale revenues increased by 26.4 percent to $53.1 million, including a 16.8 percent gain for the original brands of the group. A seeding program with key retailers and higher advertising expenses contributed to depress gross and operating margins. The latter fell to 2.0 percent of sales from 2.8 percent in the year-ago period, and the net income declined slightly to $723,788 from $892,096.