As anticipated, Stein Mart’s April sales were negatively impacted by the shift of Easter which accelerated pre-holiday selling into March, noted David H. Stovall, Jr., president and chief executive officer. However, sales for the combined March-April period, while still slightly negative, represent an improvement over our recent sales trend.


For April, ladies dresses and costume jewelry had positive comparable stores sales, as did mens sportswear. Geographically, April sales were strongest in the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest.


There were no new stores opened or existing stores closed during April. At month-end, there were 267 stores in operation compared to 275 at the same time last year.


 

























































Total Sales (in millions)       Percent Change
Fiscal period   2010   2009      

Total


Sales

 

Comparable


Store Sales

April (4 weeks)
$92.9
 
$100.3
     
-7.4%
 
-5.4%
March-April (9 weeks)
$226.5

$235.5

-3.8%

-1.7%

First Quarter (13 weeks)

$301.0

$319.6

-5.8%

-3.8%