Bob's Stores, a division of TJX Cos., saw a first quarter decrease in comparable store sales lead to a divisional loss as cold, wet weather discouraged shopping. Net sales, slid 5.4% to $60.6 million from $64.0 million. Comps fell 3% after a 1% decrease for the year-ago period. The retailer reported a segment loss of $6.9 million in the first quarter, slightly more than the $6.6 million loss the chain endured a year earlier.
On a conference call with analysts, President and CEO Carol Meyrowitz attributed the soft results at Bobs Stores to weather.
“We believe their performance in the first quarter was completely a weather story,” said Meyrowitz. “With the store base concentrated in the Northeast, Bob's Stores was disproportionately hurt by the unseasonable weather during the first part of the quarter. Here again, we were pleased to see sales increase dramatically when the weather warmed up in April.”
At quarter end, the retailer operated 34 stores covering 1.5 million square feet, down from 35 stores covering 1.6 million square feet last year.
