Haverty Furniture Reports Record Sales for November

Furniture World Magazine

Havertys' November sales increased 3.0% to $68.2 million compared with $66.3 million in November 2002. On a comparable-store basis, November sales decreased 0.4%. Comparable-store sales do not include locations opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months. Sales for the first eleven months of 2003 totaled $672.4 million versus $640.7 million for 2002, representing an increase of 4.9%. On a comparable-store basis, sales increased 0.1% for the first eleven months. "Our comparable-store sales were down 0.4% for November as deliveries and sales order activity slowed during the last half of the month," said Clarence H. Smith, president and chief executive officer. "We experienced some difficulties with meeting demand on certain imported groups causing our undelivered backlog at the end of November to be approximately $4 million greater than the year-ago period. Sales activity rebounded during the Thanksgiving weekend with comps up approximately 7%. "The bedding category showed the biggest sales increase over last year and all upholstery categories were up. Sales of Havertys Collections continued to increase as a portion of the furniture sales mix contributing to an improvement in gross selling margins. We were also more disciplined in our pricing and had fewer events focused on driving customer traffic with discounts. The credit promotions offered were more aggressive than last year, but similar to those in recent months. "Our inventory levels at the end of November were below last year and the end of September 2003. Merchandise flow is significantly improving and should help in meeting customers' delivery demands in December. "We are pleased with the strong start of our Bowie, Maryland store that opened in early November. It will contribute to setting an anticipated all- time monthly sales record in December. We expect that total sales for December will increase between 10 to 12% from last year and that comps for the month should be a positive 6 to 8%." Havertys is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 113 showrooms in 15 southern and central states providing its customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise in middle- to upper-middle price ranges. Additional information is available on the Company's website at http://www.havertys.com . This release includes forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that might cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, the consumer spending environment for large ticket items, competition in the retail furniture industry, issues related to imported merchandise and other uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the SEC.