Daily News

From Home Furnishing Business

Ethan Allen Reports Q1 Sales of $181.7 Million

October 24, 2013  by in Financial Reports, Furniture Retailing, Industry   

While that figure was off from the $187.4 million in net sales for the comparable prior-year period, written orders increased 11.4 percent, including a 13.8 percent increase in comparable-store orders for Danbury, Conn.-based Ethan Allen. That increase came on top of 9.1 percent growth in same-store sales in first-quarter 2013.

“We are pleased with our progress in re-positioning our brand from a leader in furniture to a leader in home fashion," said Farooq Kathwari, Chairman and CEO. "Our written business by our retail division increased 11.4 percent with comparable written increasing 13.8 percent despite the uncertainty expressed by our clients as a result of the recent government shutdown.

“Our net sales of $181.7 million compared to $187.4 million in the prior year reflected the lower backlogs we had at the beginning of the quarter this year, a comparison to a strong quarter the previous year, and higher clearance sales during this quarter to make room for new products for our October launch.”

He added that bickering in Washington probably prevented even higher written orders.

"We also saw continued hesitancy in the first two weeks of October," Kathwari said. "We now see our clients starting to get more focused on decorating their homes and as a result we remain cautiously optimistic as we move forward.”