HUDSON, Ohio–Jo-Ann Stores reported net income of $3 million for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2009, versus a net loss of $1.7 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008.
Net sales at the fabric and craft retailer rose 5.2 percent to $446.1 million, fueled by a same-store sales increase of 4.5 percent. It was Jo-Ann Stores’ fifth consecutive quarter of improvement in same-store sales, and its seventh straight quarter of rising earnings per share.
Much of the gain in sales occurred in the retailer’s small-format stores, whose same-store sales rose 5.8 percent in the first quarter. Same-store sales in its large-format stores climbed 3.3 percent.
In addition, Jo-Ann Stores was able to improve its expense picture, slimming its selling, general and administrative expenses by 230 basis points as a percentage of net sales, to 41.4 percent. Operating profit totaled $7.4 million, up from $100,000 from the first quarter of the last fiscal year.
For fiscal 2009 as a whole, Jo-Ann predicted in a company statement that its same-store sales would rise from 1 percent to 3 percent.
