Weather dampens Dollarama’s holiday sales
Adverse weather conditions as well as power outages in some of Dollarama’s core markets throughout December 2013 resulted in a significant reduction in store traffic and the temporary closure of approximately 80 stores, for periods ranging from a few hours to two consecutive days. The majority of the impacted days occurred during the two weekends leading up to Dec. 25.
Taking into account the 8.4% increase in comparable store sales for the month of November and the 7.5% decrease for December, same-stores sales for the months of November and December combined decreased by 1.4% compared to the previous year. Dollarama believes the decline in December sales to be an exceptional event as sales are now trending back to normal levels in January.
Dollarama will provide additional details when it releases its financial statements in spring 2014 for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2, 2014. The company does not intend to provide updates or guidance for future interim periods in respect of same-store sales figures.