Stein Mart, Inc. said its comp store sales rose 1.0% for the five week period ended April 3, 2010, but declined 3% quarter to date.
Overall sales for the five-week period declined 1.2% to $133.6 million and declined 5.1% quarter to date to $208.1 million, the retailer said.
For March, ladies dresses led all categories in sales, followed by costume jewelry, ladies casual sportswear and Boutique.
Geographically, March sales were strongest in the mid-Atlantic from the Carolinas up through New York State. As a reminder, the Easter holiday occurred one week earlier this year than in 2009, accelerating pre-Easter selling into the month of March. The calendar shift will negatively affect April 2010 sales, so the best comparisons will be the two-month (March-April) cumulative sales performance versus last year.
One new store opened, one existing store was closed, and three stores were relocated during March. At month-end, there were 267 stores in operation compared to 275 at the same time last year.
