A.C. Moore reports 1Q comps decrease

BERLIN, N.J. A.C. Moore announced that sales for the first quarter of 2008 were $126.5 million, a decrease of 6.5%, compared to sales of $135.4 million during the first quarter of 2007. Comparable-store sales decreased by 11.6% versus the same period in 2007. The net loss was $1.8 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with net income of $0.3 million, or 2 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2007.

Rick Lepley, ceo, stated, “We are pleased with our continued improvement in gross margin. Halfway through the second quarter we have seen an improvement in the comp sales trend and we are hopeful that can be sustained throughout the balance of the quarter. We are continuing our work on improving our overall level of execution at the store and corporate level and installing state of the art systems.”