Circuit City reported August sales at its consumer electronics/appliance stores were up 10% to $859.6 million, for a fiscal second quarter sales total of $2.42 billion, up 14%. Comparable store sales were up 6% for the month and up 10% for the full period.
Chairman Richard Sharp said both the monthly and quarterly results continued the trend of strong sales for PCs and “highly featured products and new consumer electronics technologies.”
Sharp indicated that Circuit City expects quarterly earnings for the retail sector of about $72.7 million, up from last year’s $43.8 million from on-going operations (and excluding the loss from Divx). That increase, plus the ongoing profitability of CarMax, Sharp said, should leave the Circuit City Group with earnings about 17% ahead of analyst expectations.
During August Circuit City opened three new superstores, including its first in the Panama City, Fla., area, raising its store count to 599.
Tandy said August sales at its RadioShack stores were up 14% to $283.8 million, with same-store sales posting a 10% rise. Tandy said corporate sales to retailers were up 81% for the month as initial Christmas orders were shipped.
Chairman Leonard Roberts noted the strong monthly gains came “against our largest gain during last year, which was the result of RadioShack and Compaq introducing the new Compaq store-within-a-store and Creative Learning Series.” He said wireless phones and home satellite systems were among the month’s sales pacesetters.
