Haverty Furniture Cos. Inc. (Atlanta) has reported a 6.4 percent drop in earnings for its fiscal year 2004 ended Dec. 31, 2004. Earnings for the fourth quarter of 2004 dropped 13.1 percent.
Sales for the fourth quarter were up 5.6 percent and sales for the year increased 5.3 percent. Same -store sales increased 2.1 percent for the year and 3 percent for the quarter.
“The earnings for the fourth quarter of 2004 reflect the impact of several strategic activities to improve our distribution capabilities, enhance our competitive service position and expand our presence into new markets,” said president and ceo Clarence Smith. “These activities did impact our earnings more than planned and we also had some unusual adjustments during the quarter.
“We opened stores in two new markets for Havertys — Cincinnati and Baton Rouge, La. — during the fourth quarter. [And] we are excited to announce the planned openings of stores in Columbus, Ohio, and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., both in great new markets for Havertys. We are also expanding our retail footprint into Indiana with a new store in Indianapolis. All of these locations are expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2005. Three of our best stores are also being physically expanded during 2005 as we seek to gain more share in these excellent locations. We plan to open approximately six stores in 2006. These include a location near Stonecrest Mall, east of Atlanta, a relocated store in south Dallas in the Cedar Hill area, a new store in Boca Raton, Fla. and three additional stores in Florida. We are aggressively evaluating other possible new locations which we believe will become available in existing retail sites in the near term. Our strategy is to pursue opportunities in denser markets which we can serve using our existing distribution.”