Conn's Same Store Sales Increase 5% for December

Furniture World News

Conn’s, Inc., a specialty retailer of home appliances, consumer electronics, computers, lawn and garden products, furniture and mattresses, today announced preliminary sales results for the month of December. The Company preliminarily estimates that product sales and service maintenance agreement sales rose approximately 15% during the month of December 2008, as compared to December 2007, on same store sales growth of approximately 5%, resulting in the largest monthly sales volume in its history. This strong performance in a challenging economic environment follows the previously reported total sales increase of approximately 23% and same store increase of approximately 12% in November 2008. Consumer electronics sales continued to show strong growth, furniture and mattresses provided solid increases and appliance sales were essentially flat. Though the Company does not typically report monthly sales information, it is releasing this preliminary information due to the continuing turmoil in the economy in general and specifically in light of current retail market conditions. About Conn’s, Inc.: The Company is a specialty retailer currently operating 76 retail locations in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma: 23 stores in the Houston area, 19 in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, 10 in San Antonio, five in Austin, five in Southeast Texas, one in Corpus Christi, four in South Texas, six in Louisiana and three in Oklahoma. It sells home appliances, including refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers and ranges, and a variety of consumer electronics, including LCD, plasma and DLP televisions, camcorders, digital cameras, computers and computer accessories, Blu-ray and DVD players, video game equipment, portable audio, MP3 players, GPS devices and home theater products. The Company also sells lawn and garden products, furniture and mattresses, and continues to introduce additional product categories for the home to help respond to its customers' product needs and to increase same store sales. Unlike many of its competitors, the Company provides flexible in-house credit options for its customers. In the last three years, the Company has financed, on average, approximately 59% of its retail sales.