Haverty Furniture Reports Sales Increase for May

Furniture World News

Havertys' May sales increased 20.8% to $74.6 million, compared with $61.7 million in May 2005. On a comparable-store basis, May sales increased 17.9%. Comparable-store sales do not include stores or locations opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months. Sales for the first five months of 2006 increased 4.1% to $348.4 million compared with $334.5 million in 2005. On a comparable-store basis, sales increased 2.5% for the first five months. Clarence H. Smith, president and chief executive officer, said, "As noted in last month's sales news release, we expected increased delivered sales in May. Actual results exceeded expectations as we increased the level of merchandise available for delivery with improved visibility and throughput in our supply chain. Our total written business for the combined months of March and April increased by 8% versus the prior year while our delivered sales for those two months increased only slightly. The better product flow in May enabled us to satisfy a larger portion of this increased demand from our customers. Additionally, we had one extra delivery day in this year's calendar versus May last year which accounted for approximately 4% of our total sales increase. "Total written sales for the month of May increased approximately 8% versus last year with Memorial Day weekend total written sales up by a mid- single-digit rate. We report using regular calendar months and the entire holiday weekend was in our May results for both years. We have continued to use selected promotional activity including longer free-interest credit offers for larger purchases and some savings available for limited time periods on certain merchandise or categories to successfully stimulate business." Havertys is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 118 showrooms in 17 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 www.havertys.com .