Warm weather hits Bon-Ton sales

The Bon-Ton Stores says its holiday sales were negatively affected by unseasonably warm weather in November.



The company announced that its same-store sales for the nine-week holiday period ended Jan. 2 decreased 1.6%. Total sales for the combined months of November and December were $784.4 million, a decrease of 1.5% from sales of $796.4 million in the prior year nine-week holiday period.



“We saw a significant improvement in holiday sales following soft selling trends during an unseasonably warm November," said Kathryn Bufano, president and CEO. "The rebound began with a successful Black Friday event and extended through the month of December. We also drove double-digit sales growth in our omnichannel operations, successfully leveraging our new West Jefferson facility and store-fulfillment network. The decrease in sales of cold-weather merchandise, in fact, exceeded increases we otherwise achieved in non-seasonal merchandise categories. That said, overall we are pleased to see the traction we are gaining on some of our merchandising initiatives and will remain focused on continued execution while prudently managing our inventory levels and expenses.”



The company will report fourth quarter results on March 15.



The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., with corporate headquarters in York, Pennsylvania and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operates 270 stores.