MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
June 1-15, 2004 Edition
Hastings Posts
8.6 Percent Gain
in Revenues
NEW YORK, NY/05/25/04—Hastings Entertainment, Amarillo, TX-based retailer, has reported a substantial increase in revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2005.
The company’s revenues increased 8.6 percent to $126.9 million. Net income jumped from a loss of $1.1 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2004 to a net income of $1.8 million, exceeding Hastings’ expectations.
An 8.1 percent increase in the number of newly-opened stores contributed to the increase. Coparable store sales for books increased 8 percent for the current period,l compared to a decline of 5.4 percent for the comparable period last year.
Hastings has recently opened new stores in Canon City, Colorado, and Emporia, Kansas, and plans to ope five more in the year.
The company operates a chain of retail superstores in 21 states, primarily in the Western and Midwestern United States. The stores sell books, music, software, periodicals, videocassette, video game and DVD products and also offer rentals of video games and videocassettes. During the year 2003, Hastings operated 146 superstores in small-to medium-sized markets in the United States.
