Stage Stores, Inc. reported total sales for the five week December period ended Dec. 29, 2012 increased 5.0 percent to $287 million from $273 million in the prior year five week December period ended Dec. 31, 2011. Comparable store sales for the December period increased 2.7 percent.
The company noted that its feminine apparel businesses, which includes misses sportswear, petites, plus sizes and juniors, achieved comparable store sales increases that exceeded the company average for December. Geographically, the Southwest and South Central regions outperformed.
SALES SUMMARY | |||||||||
Comparable Store Sales | Total Sales | ||||||||
% Increase (Decrease) | ($ in Millions) | ||||||||
Fiscal Period | 2012 | 2011 | 2012 | 2011 | |||||
| 1st Quarter | 2.5 | 0.2 | 366 | 347 | |||||
| 2nd Quarter | 5.4 | 0.9 | 381 | 353 | |||||
| 3rd Quarter | 8.1 | (0.6 | ) | 371 | 333 | ||||
| November | 13.2 | 2.3 | 141 | 121 | |||||
| December | 2.7 | 1.2 | 287 | 273 | |||||
| 4th Qtr-To-Date | 5.9 | 1.5 | 428 | 394 | |||||
| Year-To-Date (11 Mos) | 5.5 | 0.5 | 1,546 | 1,427 | |||||
A phenomenal final week of the month offset some early softness and helped drive our 2.7 percent comparable store sales increase, said Michael Glazer, president and CEO. As has been the pattern over the last several years, our customers clearly waited until the last minute to complete their holiday shopping. Despite the slow start to the month, we adhered to our planned merchandising and marketing strategies which enabled us to maintain our merchandise margin rate. We are pleased with the 5.9 percent comparable store sales increase that we generated over the combined November and December holiday shopping period and we expect that our positive momentum will continue as we close out the fiscal year.
Stage Stores, Inc. operates 865 stores in 40 states under the Bealls, Goodys, Palais Royal, Peebles, Stage and Steeles names.
