The locally based retailer said sales climbed to $2.62 billion for the quarter ending May 31, up nearly 18% from $2.23 billion in the prior year's period. Domestic sales were up by the same amount, rising from $2.1 billion in first quaarter a year ago to $2.5 billion for this year's first quarter.
Phil Schoonover, president and CEO, said an "improved in-store customer experience" helped push up the average consumer sale as traffic trends improved due to the chain's multi-channel marketing efforts. Sales originating on the web also perked up in-store sales as buyers clicked to research products online and picked up their merchandise in Circuit City stores, he said.
The company, which operates more than 1,500 stores in the US and Canada, is also expanding with the opening of three new superstores and two outlet stores during the period, company officials said. Four more superstores are set to open in the second quarter with seven additional superstore outlets planned for the third quarter.
The nation's second largest electronics chain next to Best Buy reported that strong demand for television, video and audio products helped earnings improve by four cents per share during the quarter compared to last year, when the retailer lost $13.1 million, or seven cents a share, during the first quarter.
Sales at stores open at least a year were up about 15% overall with comparative store sales of flat panel TVs tripling during the three-month period. Domestically, same store sales jumped more than 15% while international comparative store sales increased by just 2.4% the company said.
Comparative store sales of digital imaging products and accessories also increased by double digits despite a decline in comparative store sales of camcorders and DVD hardware. Sales of computer hardware, notebook computers and printer sales also showed an increase, as did sales of portable audio players and accessories.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
