For six years, Haverty Furniture Reports Sales For February

Furniture World Magazine

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. reported sales activity for the month ended February 28, 2003. Haverty's February sales decreased 3.6% to $56.7 million compared with $58.8 million in sales for February 2002. On a comparable-store basis, February sales decreased 9.3%. Comparable-store sales do not include locations opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months. Sales for the first two months of 2003 increased 0.9% to $117.2 million compared with $116.2 million in 2002. On a comparable-store basis, sales decreased 6.0% for the first two months. Clarence H. Smith, President & CEO said, "February sales were weak, compared to good results posted in the same month last year, when comp-store sales had been up by 8.2%. We believe that lower consumer confidence and concerns about international events have led to softening sales of big-ticket furniture items across the country. "Severe winter weather did impact us during the second half of the month. Due to snowstorms, seventeen of our stores in nine cities were closed for one to three days during the important and heavily promoted President's Day weekend sale. In the last week of the month, snow and ice impacted store traffic and deliveries at about one-third of our stores," Smith added. "Gross profit margins again outperformed last year in a similar fashion to the improvements shown in the fourth quarter and in January. This was driven largely by the success we have enjoyed selling our merchandise which carries the Havertys brand name. We will continue putting our energies on enticing customers into our stores to view all of the well-known brands we have for sale. Collectively, we believe they comprise the best assortment of popular priced, quality furniture available in the markets we serve, at all-time best values. "We are excited to announce that construction and decorating work on our stores in the new Haverty markets of San Antonio, Texas and West Palm Beach, Florida, originally scheduled to be completed in July and August, has been accelerated to allow openings two months earlier. These should open in time to benefit from the better economic environment that many expect awaits for us in the second half of 2003," concluded Smith. Haverty's is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 111 showrooms in 14 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 www.havertys.com.