Stein Mart, Inc. total sales for the fiscal period ended Oct. 4, 2008 were $112 million, a 11.9% decrease from FY07 September sales of $127.2 million. Comparable store sales decreased 14.8%.
During September, ladies casual wear produced the best comparable store sales performance, followed by ladies accessories and special sizes. The most challenging businesses in September were gifts and linens. Geographically, sales were better than trend through the mid-section of the country and in the mid-Atlantic region, worse in the Southeast and the West.
September sales were negatively impacted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Hurricane Gustav caused store closures along the Gulf Coast in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas at the beginning of the month; Hurricane Ike came ashore near Houston mid-month and closed stores throughout Texas and as far north as Ohio. The company lost a total of 111 store selling days as locations were closed before, during and after the storms, and many more stores that remained open were negatively impacted as customers focused, understandably, on other priorities.
“Our business in September was significantly below our expectations,” noted Linda M. Farthing, president and CEO of Stein Mart, Inc. “In an already difficult environment, our stores in the path of the hurricanes saw their sales plummet, and following Hurricane Ike, the situation was exacerbated by post-storm gas shortages in many of our core Southeast markets such as Nashville, Charlotte, and Atlanta.”
At Oct. 4, 2008, there were 280 stores in operation as compared to 271 at the same time last year.
Total Sales (in millions) Percent Change
Total Comparable
Fiscal period 2008 2007 Sales Store Sales
September (5 weeks) $112.0 $127.2 (11.9)% (14.8)%
Quarter to date (9 weeks) $198.8 $219.7 (9.5)% (12.7)%
Year to date (35 weeks) $862.6 $926.5 (6.9)% (10.3)%
