In addition to unusual charges, the increase in SG&A can be attributed to additional marketing efforts, including catalog and television advertising. Marketing costs were 9.5% of sales compared to 6.6% in the year-ago period.
Marvin J. Girouard, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Trends so far in December are better than the trends seen in October and November. Despite weak sales in the home furnishing categories, early sales of our holiday merchandise have been encouraging.
“Our efforts during the coming weeks will be concentrated on the holiday selling season. We plan to continue the aggressive marketing program scheduled, while actively monitoring inventory levels so that they remain on plan as we head into fiscal 2008.”
marketing@alchempro.com
