March sales down 2% across Fred's Super Dollar

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred's Super Dollar on Thursday reported total sales of $190.4 million for the five weeks ended April 6, down 2% from the comparable year-ago period. 

Comparable store sales for the month decreased 3% compared with flat store sales in the same period last year.

"We expected that March general merchandising sales would be adversely affected by unseasonably cool weather and the timing of the Easter holiday, both of which affected two of our key reconfiguration departments — lawn and garden and seasonal," stated Fred's CEO Bruce Efird. "The pharmacy department continued to produce strong comparable script growth, but that was offset by the ongoing brand-to-generic shift, which resulted in lower overall pharmacy sales — a trend that we will see throughout most of the year," he added. "We are optimistic about April sales as the spring seasonal sales kick in and our operational expense initiatives take hold. All of these factors were anticipated as we developed our guidance for the first quarter."