THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 14, 1995 TAG: 9502140270
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Farm Fresh Inc., the Norfolk-based supermarket chain, said Monday that its losses shrank and its sales soared by nearly 20 percent in the last quarter of 1994.
The 66-store chain lost $4.3 million in the fourth quarter, down from a $12.4 million loss in the same quarter in 1993. Sales, meantime, rose to $278.6 million in the three-month period ended Dec. 31, up from $232.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Other promising signs: same-store sales rose 7.3 percent and cash flow climbed 17.6 percent to $14 million in the quarter from $11.9 million in the year-earlier period.
Executives said that improvements in the company's Rack & Sack discount stores and The Grocery Store division in Richmond helped boost the quarter's results.
``We feel we are well-positioned for 1995,'' said Michael E. Julian, chief executive officer. ``Our sales trends are positive across all threeof our divisions.''
By the year's end, The Grocery Store division was able to overcome early-year cash flow losses associated with the acquisition of 18 Safeway stores in the Richmond area in 1993, Julian said. The division had a modest cash flow gain for the year.
The company lost $19.6 million in 1994, compared with a loss of $20.7 million in the prior year. Yearly sales climbed 19.5 percent to $885.9 million from $741.2 million.
Same-store sales rose 5.4 percent and cash flow was up 2.3 percent. by CNB