Poor Christmas for Whitehall as Sales Fall

Whitehall Jewellers today (Wednesday) reported a fall in sales for the vital Christmas holiday season and for the 11-month period to December 31.

Sales for November-December declined to $110.8 million from $120.9 million in the same period of 2003.

Meanwhile, comparable store sales in the same period fell 9 percent compared with a 6.4 percent increase a year earlier. The company did not supply dollar figures for same-store sales.

For the 11-month period to the end of last year, sales edged down 2.9 percent to $319.5 million. Comparable store sales in the same period slipped 3.6 percent compared with a 0.7 percent decrease a year earlier.

Whitehall, which operates 382 stores in 38 states, said it is continuing to focus on repositioning its brand. It has sold more than $29 million of certain discontinued goods and introduced new merchandise which accounted for around 15 percent of its holiday sales despite comprising only 10 percent of its inventory.