The Forzani Group reported strong sales and margins for the fiscal 2006 “Back to School” selling season. Retail system sales for the six-week period ended September 11, 2005 increased 20% over the same period last year. Exclusive of the impact of the current year addition of Nevada Bob's and National Sports, retail system sales were up 8.4%.
Overall comparable store sales for the six-week period increased 5.0% (fiscal
2005 – a decrease of 3.9%). Corporate comparable store sales were up 4.7 %
(fiscal 2005 – a decrease of 6.2%), while the franchise network enjoyed solid
results for the same period, with comparable store sales up 5.6% (fiscal 2005 –
an increase of 2.0%). Corporate store margins rebounded strongly, as expected,
and were considerably higher than the prior year, driven by the Sport Chek
banner.
