Hhgregg sparks a Q1 loss

INDIANAPOLIS— Specialty electronics retailer Hhgregg reported a net loss of $0.8 million for the first quarter ended June 30, or a loss of 2 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $2.7 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, for the comparable prior-year period.

Dennis May, president and CEO of Hhgregg, commented, “As expected, our fiscal first quarter was a challenging period. We faced the lapping of last year’s appliance stimulus program, the grand opening sales from 26 new stores during Q1 last year and our most difficult comparable store sales comparisons in the past 11 quarters. Despite these difficult comparisons, strong inventory management allowed us to reduce inventory per store by nearly 9%. Our new stores continue to open strong and our new store sales productivity continues to be over 100%. Additionally, we continue to make significant progress on launching our strategic initiatives designed to grow our appliance market share, reposition our online capabilities, expand our home office category and drive brand awareness, all of which we believe will benefit us in future periods.”

Net sales for the quarter decreased 1% to $431.5 million compared with $436 million in the comparable prior year period. The company reported acomparable-store sales decrease of 13.2% for the quarter.

Hhgregg currently operates 190 stores in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.