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Stage Stores August Comps Up 0.5% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Specialty department store retailer Stage Stores Inc. (SSI) Thursday stated that its August sales at stores which are open at least a year increased 0.5%, compared with a 9.5% decline in the prior-year month.

Total monthly sales were up 2.4% to $114 million from $111 million in the comparable period a year ago.

According to the company, categories of business that achieved comparable store sales increases during the month included accessories, children's, dresses, footwear, intimates, junior sportswear and men's. Geographically, the Midwest and Southeast were the company's best performing regions.

Stage Stores primarily focuses on consumers in small and mid-sized markets and offers brand name and private label apparel and accessories.

For the year-to-date period, the company's comparable store sales, also known as same-store sales, declined 0.9%, on top of a 9.8% decrease a year ago. Total sales were $799 million, up from $786 million in the prior-year period.

Commenting on the results, Andy Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "While today's macroeconomic environment has created a cautious consumer sentiment, our back-to-school performance met our expectations. We continue to be pleased with our small market performance as their 2.6% comparable store sales increase exceeded the company performance."

"We also saw continued sequential improvement in our Texas and Louisiana stores. While still negative, these stores improved for the fourth consecutive month," Hall noted.

Stage Stores said it didn't open any new stores during August. Looking ahead, the company plans to open nine new Goody's stores and one new Bealls store during September.

SSI closed Wednesday's trading at $11. 54, up $0.38, on a volume of 323,100 shares.