Stein Mart, Inc. said total sales for April were $100.2 million, a 14.6% decline from last year's sales of $117.4 million. Comparable store sales for the period were down 12.3%.
For the nine weeks ended May 2, 2009, total sales were $235.4 million, down 8.0% from $256.0 million. Comparable store sales were down 6.4%. For the quarter ended May 2, 2009, sales were $319.6 million, a 9.2% fall from sales of $352.1 million in the same quarter last year. Comparable store sales were down 8.0%.
During April, the best performing categories were dresses and ladies' casual sportswear. The most difficult businesses were ladies' career sportswear, gifts and linens. Stores in the mid-South led the Company, while stores in the Northern tier of states experienced the weakest trends.
“As expected, our April results were negatively affected by the move of our spring 12 hour sale into March this year,” said David H. Stovall, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Stein Mart, Inc. “However, the combined March-April period resulted in a 6.4% comparable store sales decrease, which represents a marked improvement over sales trends during the past year, even while we continue to hold inventories at a significantly reduced level.”
There were no new stores opened or existing stores closed during April. At May 2, 2009, there were 275 stores in operation as compared to 284 at the same time last year.
