Havertys May Sales Climb

June 1, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2006 Haverty Furniture Cos. posted May sales of $74.6 million, an increase of 20.8 percent over $61.7 million posted during the same month last year.

The retailer’s reporting period ended May 31.

Same-store sales increased 17.9 percent. Comparable-store sales do not includes stores opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months.

Sales for the first five months of 2006 increased 4.1 percent to $348.4 million compared with $334.5 million in 2005. Same-store sales increased 2.5 percent for the first five months.

“As noted in last month’s sales news release, we expected increased delivered sales in May,” said Clarence H. Smith, president and chief executive officer. “Actual results exceeded expectations as we increased the level of merchandise available for delivery with improved visibility and throughput in our supply chain. Our total written business for the combined months of March and April increased by 8 percent versus the prior year while our delivered sales for those two months increased only slightly. The better product flow in May enabled us to satisfy a larger portion of this increased demand from our customers. Additionally, we had one extra delivery day in this year’s calendar versus May last year which accounted for approximately 4 percent of our total sales increase.”

Smith also said Memorial Day weekend sales were up from the previous year. The Atlanta-based retailer continues to use selected promotional activity including longer free-interest credit offers for larger purchases and savings for limited time periods on various merchandise to spark business.