Gottschalks Inc. said same store sales for the month of October decreased 13.4% from the prior year. Total sales for the four-week period decreased 13.4% to $36.1 million compared to $41.7 million in the same period of fiscal 2007.


For the third fiscal quarter, which consisted of 13 weeks, same-store sales decreased 12.1% and total sales decreased 13.3% to $119.1 million, compared to $137.4 million for the third fiscal quarter of 2007.

 

On a year-to-date basis, which consisted of 39 weeks, same-store sales decreased 9.7% from the comparable period of fiscal 2007. Total sales on a year-to-date basis decreased 10.9% to $378.0 million compared to $424.1 million in the same period of the prior year. The company operated the same number of stores for the month and one less store for the year-to-date period compared to the same periods in fiscal 2007.

“Our best performing categories for the month were cosmetics and special size apparel, while most home product categories were the weakest,” said Jim Famalette, chairman and CEO of Gottschalks. “We remain focused on effectively managing our promotional activity, expenses and inventory. Due to our team's diligent efforts, we ended the month with comparable store inventory down 5.3% versus the same period last year and we will continue to align our inventory with current sales demands.”