The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. announced comparable store sales for the four weeks ended May 29, 2010 decreased 1.1%. Total sales for the four weeks decreased 1.3% to $186.5 million compared with $188.9 million for the prior year period.
Year-to-date comparable store sales increased 2.0%. Year-to-date total sales increased 1.7% to $847.9 million compared with $833.5 million for the same period last year.
Tony Buccina, Vice Chairman and President Merchandising, commented, “We were pleased with the performance of our spring/summer merchandise, despite sales being impacted by the unseasonable weather in early May and the Memorial Day shift. Our sales in the final week of May strengthened, reflecting the return of more seasonable warmer weather. Our best performing categories for May were children's, accessories, moderate missy, petites and large size sportswear. The weakest performing categories were furniture, hard home and juniors. Ecommerce business continued to outperform total company sales growth. We ended the month with 15% less clearance inventory on a comparable store basis, providing fresher assortments heading into June.”
Keith Plowman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated, “We ended May with excess borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility of approximately $424 million, well above the required minimum availability of $75 million.”
