West Marine, Inc. reported net sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 27, 2008 of $180.2 million, a decrease of $8.2 million, or 4.4%, from net sales of $188.4 million for the same period a year ago. The retailer attributed the decline primarily to a 4.7%, or $7.5 million, decrease in comparable store sales.
Net sales attributable to the stores, or retail, segment for the third quarter were $159.8 million, a decrease of $7.5 million, or 4.5%, compared to same period last year. The sales decrease primarily was due to a $7.5 million decrease in comparable store sales.
“As anticipated, sales results during the third quarter remained soft, with particular weakness in the southeastern part of the country,” said Geoff Eisenberg, CEO of West Marine. “Economic conditions and high fuel prices continued to affect boat usage, which is the primary driver of our traffic and sales levels. Spending on big ticket items continued to be slow. More recently, we also have seen sales softness spread to the International business, though this is a relatively small portion of our overall sales mix. We are continuing to operate the business conservatively, focusing on expense management and cash flow generation.”
Net sales for the three quarters, or 39 weeks, ended Sept. 27, 2008 were $520.1 million, a decrease of $41.1 million, or 7.3%, from net sales of $561.3 million for the same period a year ago. The decline was primarily due to a decline in comp stores sales of $33.3 million and a $9.2 million sales decrease attributable to stores that were closed in 2007.
