Alan McCollough Strong Quotations

Our record December sales results are further evidence of the great work being done by Associates throughout our company. More effective advertising, improved inventory in-stock levels and a tightly integrated multi-channel offering helped drive the year-over-year improvement. A strong increase in the average ticket size more than offset a reduction in traffic, compared with the prior year." ()

Sales were particularly strong in those categories that were expanded following last year's exit from the appliance business and which seasonally peak in December, ... These categories include video game hardware, software and accessories; digital cameras; personal computer software and accessories; and DVD software." ()

The industry trends and our own initiatives resulted in strong sales of new technologies such as digital and thin-panel televisions, portable DVD players, digital satellite systems and portable digital audio,

Although December sales started relatively strong and picked up at the end of the month, we were not able to offset mid-month weakness, ... For the full month, traffic was up slightly, but not at the level of improvement we experienced in November.