Haverty Furniture Reports January Sales Figures

Furniture World News

Havertys' January sales increased 0.9% to $66.2 million, compared with $65.6 million in January 2004. On a comparable-store basis, January sales decreased 2.5%. Comparable-store sales do not include stores or locations opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months. Clarence H. Smith, president and chief executive officer, said, "January deliveries to our customers were cut short over the last weekend of the month by an ice storm impacting our Georgia and Eastern stores. Calendar differences also took a delivery day out of the month compared to January 2004 and contributed to the 2.5% decrease in comparable-store sales. We believe comps would have been positive by a low to mid single-digit percentage without these factors. "The merchandise categories producing the largest percent gains for the month were casual dining, recliners and bedding. Our comparable-store written business for January grew by a low single-digit percentage pace on top of last year's strong 8% increase. "We are excited about the opening later this month of another Havertys store in the rapidly growing Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. This 41,000 square foot showroom is on a prominent free-standing site next to the Dulles Town Center Mall." Havertys is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 117 showrooms in 16 southern and central states providing its customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise in middle- to upper-middle price ranges. Additional information is available on the Company's website at http://www.havertys.com/ .