CPI Corp. (CPY) said its same-store holiday sales sank amid
weakness in its PictureMe Portrait Studio and Sears Portrait Studio
brands.
The company runs about 3,000 portrait photography studios, with
most of its locations in Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. (WMT) stores. PictureMe and Sears Portrait same-store
sales dropped 18%, while its Kiddie Kandids operations fell
21%.
CPI said same-store declined 18% to $82.1 million in the first
eight weeks of its fourth quarter, though said sales trends have
improved in the last three weeks.
Sears last month said it plans to close about 100 stores in a
bid to revitalize its business and reduce expenses. The company in
December reported same-store sales were down 5.2% so far for the
latest quarter, including a 6% sales decline so far at domestic
namesake stores.
Last month, CPI said its third-quarter loss narrowed, despite
weaker sales, on lower expenses. It also said it received an
October notice that it was out of compliance with the New York
Stock Exchange's listing standards and said it may have to seek
listing elsewhere.
CPI's shares, which sank sharply following the third-quarter
report, closed Thursday at $1.53 and were inactive premarket. The
stock is down 78% over the past three months.
-By Ben Fox Rubin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3108;
ben.rubin@dowjones.com;