Sport Chalet said this afternoon that warm weather and cautious consumer spending hurt sales for the quarter ended Dec. 30.
As a result, the company’s loss widened for the quarter.
Sport Chalet’s total sales in the quarter rose 0.4%, to $97.6 million. Same store sales declined 0.7%.
Bright spots included team sales, which increased 17.9% and online sales, which rose 32.6%.
The company’s net loss widened to $1.9 million vs. a net loss of $1 million the same quarter last year.
In January, the beginning of the company’s fourth quarter, Sport Chalet’s business improved as the weather grew colder. Comps for the five weeks ended Feb. 3 jumped 20.3%.
“We believe that the January sales numbers reflect both the return to more ‘normal’ winter weather conditions and the continued response of our customers to our strategy of being first to market with performance, technology and lifestyle merchandise as evidenced by our growth in average ticket size,” CEO Craig Levra said in a release. “In addition to our differentiated product offerings, our Team Sales Division and online sales also are essential channels for growth and expansion of our footprint and customer base.
“Therefore, we continue to heavily invest in these areas where we believe we can distinguish ourselves from our competition and provide the greatest financial return. To that end, a prioritization of talent and resources is underway to continue growing businesses that deliver an overall seamless customer experience while more closely linking online, Team Sales Division and our retail stores. Recent examples include our launch of same day delivery currently being tested in three select markets and online drop ship to customers with vendor inventory to expand our product offering both online and in stores,” Levra said.
