Neither Rain Nor Drought Nor Forest Fires

Gart Sports Co. (Denver) has announced a 366 percent increase in net earnings for its third quarter, ended Nov. 2, 2002. Total sales increased 3.9 percent and same-store sales were up 1.5 percent.

The earnings results exclude the effect of one-time integration costs associated with the company's acquisition of Oshman's Sporting Goods (Houston) in June 2001.

“We are pleased to report strong third quarter earnings that were well above last year's results,” said chairman, president and ceo Doug Morton. “Sales in August were impacted by the lingering effects of drought and forest fires in the Rocky Mountain region. However, the return of normal weather conditions later in the quarter to most of our major markets provided a strong boost to our ski, snowboard and outdoor apparel categories. Additionally, we continued to see an increase in our gross margins across almost all of our merchandise categories with particularly strong performance in footwear, outdoor apparel and athletic hardgoods.”

Gart Sports is the second-largest full-line sporting goods chain in the U.S. (behind The Sports Authority, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), operating 184 stores in 25 states under the Gart Sports, Sportmart and Oshman's nameplates.