Gottschalks Gears for Centennial

Gottschalks Inc. (Fresno, Calif.), preparing to mark its 100th anniversary, announced a 0.5 percent increase in same-store sales for the month of August 2004. Total sales for the month were essentially even with last year.

On a year-to-date basis, same store sales increased 1.5 percent.

“Sales for the month of August met our expectations,” said president and ceo Jim Famalette. “Our focus on better inventory management positioned us to begin the month with cleaner inventories, which allowed us to conduct less clearance activity compared to the previous year. We also ended August with comparable-store inventory 4 percent below that of last year. During the month, our best-performing categories included women’s accessories, an area that continues to be strong for us, as well as shoes, sportswear, juniors and home textiles. In September, we are looking forward to marketing events planned around our celebration of Gottschalks’ 100th anniversary. We continue to anticipate comparable store sales growth in the range of 1 percent to 2 percent for the third quarter this year over last year.”

Gottschalks currently operates 63 regional department stores and 10 specialty apparel stores in six western states, 39 of those in California.