Stein Mart April same-store sales rise 3.2 percent

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Department-store operator Stein Mart Inc. said Thursday that same-store sales rose 3.2 percent in April, helped by a promotional event and an extra shopping day from an earlier Easter.

For the four weeks ended May 3, total sales rose 7 percent to $117.4 million, from $109.3 million.

However, Linda M. Farthing, company president and chief executive, said in a statement that daily sales remain "challenging" and "continue to trend substantially below last year's levels."

Combined same-store sales for the March and April period, which includes Easter, fell 8.9 percent.

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

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected same-store sales to be flat.

For the first quarter ended May 3, same-store sales fell 9.3 percent while total sales fell 6 percent to $352.1 million.

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