Growth in comparative store sales

The US speciality chain Pets Mart reports an increase of 7.5 per cent in comparable store sales in the third quarter (ending on 2 November 2003). Overall the stores achieved sales of US$ 733.7 mio (617.5 mio €), up 11.6 per cent on the same period in 2002. According to the chairman and chief executive officer Phil Francis, the company would have done even better if it had not been for the unseasonably warm weather, Hurricane Isabel and the major power failure on the East Coast. Pets Mart increased sales of pet services by 27.3 per cent to US$ 46.8 mio (39.4 mio €). In the period under review the company opened 23 new stores, reformatted 33 and closed one outlet. Pets Mart’s cumulative sales in the first three quarters of this year total US$ 2 156 bn (1 815 bn €).