Footstar comparable store sales for the thirteen-week period ended September 27, 2003 declined 1.5%. Comparable store sales for the athletic segment increased 1.2% and comparable store sales at Meldisco decreased 4.3%.
Total sales for the third quarter were $506.6 million, a decrease of 13.7% from $586.8 million in the third quarter of 2002. Total sales for the Company's athletic segment increased 0.7% to $267.0 million from $265.2 million and total sales for the Meldisco division declined 25.5% to $239.6 million from $321.6 million. The overall sales decline in large part reflects fewer Kmart and J. Baker stores in operation at Meldisco than in the prior period.
For the thirty-nine week period ended September 27, 2003, the Company's comparable store sales declined 2.9%. Comparable store sales for the athletic segment rose 0.7% and comparable store sales at Meldisco were down by 6.6%.
The Company's total sales for the thirty-nine week period were $1,480.5 million, a decrease of 14.6% from $1,733.7 million in the same period of 2002, again, reflecting in large part the fewer stores in operation at Meldisco. Total sales in the Company's athletic segment increased 1.2% to $737.7 million from $728.9 million and total sales for Meldisco declined 26.1% to $742.8 million from $1,004.8 million.
Footstar's third quarter sales performance was consistent with the expectations the Company provided in its September 15, 2003 press release and reflects a number of ongoing trends across its business. In the Company's athletic segment, Footaction delivered mid single digit comparable store sales gains, as the chain continued to benefit from higher quantities of exclusive and allocated Nike product and substantially more licensed apparel in its sales mix. Just For Feet continued to experience declines in customer traffic, which led to a high single digit comparable store sales decline. At Meldisco, sales in the third quarter fell slightly below plan at Kmart, with women's and children's categories performing better than men's. The Company's Thom McAn sales remained strong across retailers.
The Company remains focused on increasing the operating cash flow produced by Footstar's businesses. As described in the Company's September 15, 2003 release, management is working to improve performance at Just for Feet through major initiatives including increasing the availability of exclusive and allocated footwear product, and identifying opportunities to convert certain Just For Feet stores into Footaction stores, to split Just For Feet stores with other Company retail concepts such as Footaction or Shoe Zone, and to sublet or exit underperforming locations. In the fourth quarter Just For Feet expects to benefit from the introduction of marquee Nike product. During the third quarter the Company converted one Just for Feet store into a Footaction store and split two other stores with Footaction with encouraging early results. As a result, the Company plans to convert three additional Just for Feet stores into Footaction stores during the fourth quarter.
Reflecting the continued support of its lenders, at the end of September, Footstar received a commitment of $20 million in additional term loan financing, which was approved by 100% of its lending syndicate.
As announced in the September 15, 2003 press release, the Company currently expects to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission by October 31, 2003 its amended Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the first and second quarters of fiscal year 2002, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of fiscal year 2002 and for the first and second quarters of fiscal year 2003, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year 2002. These filings will contain restated financial information for fiscal year 1997 through the first half of fiscal year 2002.
