Stein Mart Inc. said comp store sales fell 9.9% for the four weeks ended Aug. 30, while total sales reached $86.8 million for the period, down 6.2% from $92.5 million in the comparable period a year ago. Year to date, comp sales are down 9.6% and total sales are down 6.1% to $750.6 million.


During August, men’s furnishings and accessories, particularly golf, and ladies special sizes, career tops and modern casual areas were better than company trend, while gifts, linens and social occasion/dresses were below company trend. Geographically, sales were better than the company trend in the western and northern parts of the country, but sales in the southeast continued well below the company trend.

August sales were interrupted by Tropical Storm Fay in Florida and Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Tropical Storm Fay’s lingering presence mid-month disrupted traffic in nearly all of Stein Mart’s 46 Florida locations over the course of several days, although actual store closures were minimal. Meanwhile, as fiscal August drew to a close, the threat of impending Hurricane Gustav impacted traffic in more than a dozen Stein Mart stores along the Gulf Coast. As of Wednesday, September 3, six Louisiana locations (Baton Rouge, Lafayette and four stores in New Orleans) were still closed, mostly due to power outages.


One new store opened during August. At Aug. 30, 2008, there were 284 stores in operation as compared to 270 at the same time last year.