Stores Report Sales, Part 3

With reports from CVS, Michaels, Big 5, Duckwall-Alco, Cost-U-Less

Compiled from Associated Press, Business Wire, Reuters, PrimeZone, PRNewswire and company reports


CVS 1Q Sales Up 35%; Comps Up 8.2%

WOONSOCKET, RI — CVS Corp. on Thursday said profit rose 18% in the 1Q as sales at its pharmacies open for at least a year rose almost 9%, according to an Associated Press report.

The drugstore chain said net income available to common shareholders rose to $286.2 million from $241 million a year ago.

Sales rose 35% to $9.18 billion from $6.82 billion. Comps rose 8.2%, while pharmacy comps rose 8.8% and front-end comps increased 6.9%. CVS said the comps results benefited from a shift of the Easter holiday to March this year.

CVS, which operated 5,409 retail and specialty pharmacy stores as of the end of the quarter, said pharmacy sales represented 71.1% of total company sales for the quarter, and third-party prescription sales were 93.8% of pharmacy sales for the period.

"I am very pleased to report that the aggregate sales results of the 1,100 former Eckerd stores are trending positive to last year, having been in steep decline at the time we acquired them," said Tom Ryan, chairman, president, and ceo in a statement. CVS acquired the Eckerd's chain of drugstores in the middle of last year.



Michaels Stores 1Q Sales Increase 13.1%; Comps Increase 7.8%

IRVING, TX — Michaels Stores reported today that total sales for the 1Q were $821.0 million, a 13.1% increase over last year's $725.9 million. Comps for the quarter increased 7.8% on a 2.2% increase in average ticket, a 4.9% increase in transactions, and a 0.7% increase in custom frame deliveries. A favorable currency translation, due to the stronger Canadian dollar, contributed approximately 0.4% to the average ticket increase for the quarter, according to a Reuters report.

Michael Rouleau, president and ceo, said, "We are extremely pleased with our strong comps performance throughout the quarter that builds on our solid fiscal 2004 1Q comps increase of 6%. Higher inventory in-stock levels in our stores, strength in yarn sales, improved results from promotional activities and continued improvements in store merchandising execution all contributed to our excellent comps results. Our best performing geographic regions were our Pacific, Southeast, and Northern zones and our best departmental performances came in our Yarn, Paper-crafting, General Crafts, Wedding & Ribbon, and Kids Crafts categories."

Michaels Stores is the world's largest specialty retailer of arts, crafts, framing, floral, wall decor, and seasonal merchandise for the hobbyist and do-it-yourself home decorator. As of May 5, 2005, the company owns and operates 859 Michaels stores in 48 states and Canada, 165 Aaron Brothers stores, 9 Recollections stores, and 4 Star Wholesale operations.



Big 5 Sporting Goods 1Q Sales Up 4.5%; Comps Up 1.7%

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation reported preliminary financial results for the fiscal 2005 1Q that ended on April 3, 2005.

For the fiscal 2005 1Q, net sales increased by $8.1 million, or 4.5%, to $189.9 million from net sales, as preliminarily restated to include adjustments relating to the previously announced establishment of a sales return reserve, of $181.8 million in the 1Q of 2004. comps increased 1.7% during the first fiscal quarter versus the comparable 13-week period last year, representing the company's 37th consecutive quarterly increase in comps over comparable prior periods. Net income increased to $7.2 million for the fiscal 2005 1Q, compared with net income, as preliminarily restated, of $6.6 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the fiscal 2004 1Q.

"We are pleased to report a strong start to our fiscal 2005," said Steven G. Miller, Big 5's chairman, president and ceo. "We operated with one less business day during the quarter due to the shift in the timing of the Easter holiday and overcame unfavorable weather conditions in a majority of our markets to achieve our 37th consecutive quarterly increase in comps. We were up in each of our three major merchandise categories for the quarter, with footwear being our strongest performing category, followed by apparel and hardgoods. We believe that we are well positioned to continue our consistently solid performance in the 2Q and throughout the year."

The company ended the fiscal 2005 1Q operating 309 stores, opening one new store during the quarter, which was a relocation. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the company opened one new store, in the Denver market, and is currently operating 310 stores. The company anticipates opening between 16 and 20 net new stores in fiscal 2005.

Big 5 is a leading sporting goods retailer in the United States, operating 310 stores in 10 states under the "Big 5 Sporting Goods" name.



Duckwall-Alco April Sales Down 1.4%; Comps Down 3.9%

ABILENE, KS — Duckwall-ALCO Stores today announced that its sales from continuing operations for the four weeks ended May 1, 2005 (fiscal month of April) decreased approximately 1.4% to $30.9 million, compared with $31.3 million in the prior-year month, according to a PrimeZone report.

The 20 stores previously announced as closing along with other stores where the decision has been made to close them by the end of the 1Q are excluded from sales from continuing operations.

Comps decreased approximately 3.9% during April 2005 when compared with the year-earlier period. ALCO stores, which generate approximately 93% of the company's total revenues, recorded a 4.1% comps decrease, while the Duckwall division recorded a decrease of 1.3% in comps. Comps this year in March benefited from a shift in the timing of Easter, which occurred the fourth week of fiscal March this year, compared to the first week of April last year. Because of this shift, the best way to evaluate the company's comps performance is to combine March and April sales, which decreased 0.4%.

For the 13 weeks ended May 1, 2005, sales from continuing operations increased 2.8% to $98.0 million from $95.4 million last year, and comps decreased 0.1%.

Duckwall-ALCO Stores has 259 stores in 21 states across the central United States, operating under two names, ALCO and Duckwall.



Cost-U-Less April Sales Up 4.4%; Comps Up 6.3%

BELLEVUE, WA — Cost-U-Less on Wednesday reported comps rose 6.3% in April, boosted by the earlier timing of the Easter holiday weekend, according to an Associated Press report.

Total sales for the four weeks ended April 24 increased 4.4% to $16.4 million from $15.7 million last year. Year-to-date, sales rose 5.9% to $69.6 million from $65.7 million a year ago.

The company — which operates 11 stores in the Caribbean and Pacific region — said all locations except its Fiji store were open for at least one more day during the month compared with last year.