West Marine, Inc. said a recovery in demand for high-ticket items like boats, motors and electronics propelled sales 8.5% to $109.6 million in the first quarter. Comparable store sales improved by 8.4% for the period.
Gross margins improved by 170 basis points to 23.4% of sales. Pre-tax loss for the quarter was $8.9 million, a $6.5 million improvement over a pre-tax loss of $15.4 million last year. The net loss was 40 cents per share as compared to a 71 cents net loss per share last year.
