West Marine, Inc. reported that net revenues for the thirteen weeks ended April 4, 2009 decreased 10.9% to $101.0 million from net revenues of $113.3 million in the year-ago period. The retailer attributed the decline to a $6.1 million decrease in comparable store sales and a $3.7 million decrease due to store closures in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Comparable store sales for the first quarter decreased 6.8%.
Net revenues in the Stores segment for first quarter of 2009 were $88.3 million, a decrease of $8.8 million, or 9.1%, compared to same period last year. The revenue decrease primarily was due to a $6.1 million decrease in comparable store sales and a $3.7 million decrease due to store closures in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Port Supply (wholesale) segment revenues through the distribution centers for the first quarter of 2009 were $6.8 million, a decrease of $2.3 million, or 24.9%, compared to the same period last year. Port Supply sales to wholesale customers through store locations are included in the Stores segment. Net revenues in the Direct Sales segment for the first quarter of 2009 were $5.8 million, a decrease of $1.3 million, or 17.6%, compared to same period last year.
Geoff Eisenberg, Chief Executive Officer of West Marine, said, “Our first quarter sales were right about where we expected. The boating equipment market continued to be challenged, and all of the well-documented macro-economic impacts on our industry negatively affected Customer purchasing activities.
“We believe that West Marines market share has continued to rise. Although, of course, we dont like to see smaller year-over-year sales, were very pleased with our organizations performance in this tough market.”
