MINNEAPOLIS -Musicland boosted its store profit 30 percent in the third quarter, based on continued growth of square footage and more managed profitability due to the closing of unprofitable locations.
Net earnings for stores hit $2.2 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to $1.7 million in the year-ago period. Total-store sales for the quarter were flat, however, reaching $387.9 million, compared with $386.2 million in the same three months in 1999.
Comp-store sales dipped 1.2 percent, with comp-store sales for Musicland’s Mall Stores Division declining 0.8 percent and the Superstores Division 1.9 percent.
Overall mall-store sales were $246.6 million in the third quarter, down 2.4 percent from $252.7 million in the year-ago quarter. Superstore sales, however, climbed 5.9 percent to $141 million, up from $133.5 million in the same period.
Musicland reported that e-commerce costs and investments resulted in an after-tax earning reduction in the third quarter of $2.1 million, compared with $1 million in the 1999 quarter.
For the nine months, total Musicland sales reached $1.21 billion, a 3.3 percent increase from the $1.17 billion reported in the prior-year period. Total comp-store sales for the nine months were 1.9 percent ahead of 1999. Nine-month comp-store sales for the Mall Stores Division increased 2.3 percent in the period, compared with the year-ago nine months, while comp-store sales in the Superstores Division rose 0.9 percent.
Mall stores open on Sept. 30 totaled 1,062, compared with 1,093 in 1999. Superstores open totaled 269, compared to 239 after nine months of 1999.
