West Marine, Inc. reported a 3.0% increase in net sales for the thirteen weeks ended October 1, 2005 to $188.6 million, from net sales of $183.1 million a year ago. Comparable store sales for the quarter decreased 1.2%, compared to a comparable store sales decrease of 7.7% reported for the third quarter a year ago. Third quarter comparable store sales by region were as follows:
2005 2004
Northeast (4.7%) (11.7%)
Southeast 4.6% ( 5.1%)
Western (2.4%) ( 3.9%)
Net sales for the thirty-nine weeks ended October 1, 2005 were $567.5 million, an increase of 0.5% from net sales of $564.9 million for the same period a year ago. Comparable store sales for the latest thirty-nine weeks decreased 3.5%, compared to a comparable store sales increase of 1.1% reported for the same period a year ago.
Peter Harris, CEO of West Marine, said, “Third quarter sales were in the range that we expected to see when we issued our latest guidance in mid-September. Hurricane Rita had a minimal effect on our sales and operations, especially when compared to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, which also had a significant impact on higher fuel prices and diminished consumer spending nationwide. We will update our guidance for the year 2005 in our upcoming third quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, October 27, 2005
