June retail sales soften
By Janice Chamberlain -- Furniture Today, July 10, 2005
Fort Worth, Texas — June sales offered little comfort to Pier 1 Imports and The Bombay Company, both based here, and Atlanta-based Havertys.
All three retailers posted same-store sales declines, although Pier 1 and Havertys managed to eke out slim increases in total sales.
At specialty retailer Pier 1, same-store sales for the five weeks ended July 2 slid by 3.8% from the comparable period a year earlier, but total sales rose 1.3% to $175.3 million.
Fiscal year-to-date sales for the four months ended July 2 were $581 million, off 4% from a year earlier, with same-store sales falling 9.7%.
"Sales in June were better than we expected," said Pier 1 Chairman and CEO Marvin Girouard. "Although traffic levels remained below last year, they improved slightly from earlier this year and average ticket transactions increased. We continue to project second-quarter comp store sales declines in a range of mid- to high single digits based on more difficult comparisons for July and August."
At Bombay, sales for the five weeks ended July 2 slipped 2% to $49.4 million, with same-store sales also down 2%.
Excluding wholesale revenue related to Bailey Street Trading Company, the assets of which Bombay sold in May, revenues were up 1% from $49.1 million a year ago.
For the 22 weeks ended July 2, Bombay said total revenues increased 2% to $215.9 million, with same-store sales dipping 2%. Excluding Bailey Street, revenues increased 2% to $209.6 million from $205.3 million in the comparable year-earlier period.
"Demand during the month of June was softer than we had expected," said Bombay Chairman and CEO James Carreker. "The environment was very competitive and a higher percentage of our sales were discounted than we had planned.
"As a result, while margins were under pressure, we exited the month with lower levels of clearance merchandise than we had this same time last year. In light of our June results, we expect annual earnings (per share) to be on the lower end of the 2 cents to 8 cents previously indicated."
Sales for the month of June at full-line retailer Havertys increased 1.6% to $65.5 million as same-store sales dipped 1.8%. For the first six months of the year, the retailer racked up a 3.5% same-store sales increase and an 8.1% jump in sales. Sales for the six months came to $400 million.
"June sales results did not meet our expectations, although we did continue to experience growth in both the average price per item and the average sales ticket," said Clarence Smith, president and CEO of Havertys. "The delivered sales results for June are in line with our written sales orders relative to last year, with business in early July running at a slower pace."
Smith added that higher fuel prices and rising short-term interest rates had a negative effect on customers, but "we are encouraged by the continued strength of the domestic economy and the recent reports of rising consumer confidence."
| Retailers report June sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dollar amounts in millions | |||
| Company | Sales | Change | Same-store change |
| 1. For the five weeks ended July 2. Source: Retailers |
|||
| Pier 1 Imports1 | $175.3 | 1.3% | -3.8% |
| Havertys | 65.5 | 1.6 | -1.8 |
| Bombay1 | 49.4 | -2.0 | -2.0 |
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Retailers see sales slide in June
Jul 7, 2005
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