Haverty Reports September Sales Increase of 9.3%

Furniture World News

Havertys' September sales increased 9.3% to $67.1 million compared with $61.4 million in September 2004. On a comparable-store basis, September sales increased 6.5%. Comparable-store sales do not include locations opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months. Sales for the first nine months of 2005 totaled $602.1 million versus $567.4 million for 2004, representing an increase of 6.1%. On a comparable-store basis, sales increased 2.0% for the first nine months. Clarence H. Smith, president and chief executive officer, said, "September comparable-store sales increased 6.5%. Our written sales order activity in September also improved over last year, but by a slightly lower percentage. We had expected larger increases given the significant impact on our prior year's results from the hurricane activity in Florida, our most productive region. Sales reflect some continued reluctance by consumers to make big- ticket purchases. "We are pleased to announce the addition of two new members to our management team. James Daniell joins us in a new position, assistant vice president, marketing. James has over 18 years of brand marketing experience. He began his career at Schering-Plough working with their Coppertone(R) and Dr. Scholl's(R) business units and then spent several years at Russell Corporation managing the global marketing of its apparel business as vice president, marketing. Most recently James has worked as a part of a consulting team where he managed varied consumer branding projects for a number of companies. James will report to Tom Curran, senior vice president, marketing. "We have also added our first legal officer, Janet Taylor, vice president, law. Janet most recently served as a partner in the corporate department at the Atlanta office of King & Spalding. Her experience includes a broad range of transactions and advisory work for several large public companies. She also has served as assistant general counsel for a medical services corporation. We look forward to the important contributions that these new officers will make to Havertys." Havertys is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 117 showrooms in 16 states in the Southern and Midwestern regions 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/.