Stage Stores Aug same-store sales drop 8.3 percent

HOUSTON—Clothing and accessories retailer Stage Stores Inc. said Thursday its same-store sales fell 8.3 percent in August, missing Wall Street's expectations on soft back-to-school sales.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

The decline was far steeper than analysts expected. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a same-store sales drop of 1.7 percent.

The company said same-store sales of cosmetics and dresses rose, but back-to-schoool sales were soft.

Stage Stores said reduced clearance sales and the impact of Tropical Storm Edouard and Hurricane Gustav during the first and last weeks of the month also affected sales.

Total sales for the four-week period ended Aug. 30 fell 3 percent to $119.8 million from $123.5 million.