Gottschalks Inc. same store sales for the month of September 2004 increased 6.0% from the prior year. Total sales for the month increased 5.5% to $56.8 million from $53.8 million in September 2003.
On a year-to-date basis, same store sales increased 2.1 % from the comparable period of fiscal 2003. Total sales on a year-to-date basis increased 0.7% to $396.4 million compared to $393.6 million in the same period of the prior year. For the month the Company operated one less store than the same period of fiscal 2003, and year-to-date operated seven fewer stores compared to the same period last year.
Jim Famalette, president and chief executive officer of Gottschalks, said, “We are very pleased to have achieved a strong 6% comparable store sales increase in September, which exceeded our expectations. Our customers responded in a very positive way to our 100th year anniversary marketing and promotional efforts during the month. New women's fashion looks sold very well during the month across the board. The best performing merchandise categories were women's accessories, shoes, intimate apparel, better sportswear, special sizes and furniture in our home division. We continue to focus on improving our inventory turnover and ended September with 6% less inventory in comparable stores than the same period last year. We currently expect third quarter comparable store sales to increase in the range of 2% to 3% over the third quarter of fiscal 2003.”
