Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine, said third-quarter earnings, to be released this week, will be below expectations. Hurricane Fran caused product losses due to refrigeration outages, higher labor costs and other emergency expenses, Hannaford reported. Also, meat cost inflation outpaced retail prices in markets where Hannaford maintains competitive pricing, the company said.
re sales for U.S. Kmart stores, including supercenters, dipped 0.2% for the five weeks ended Sept. 27 but were up 2.3% for the 35-week period. Total sales for the U.S. Kmart stores fell 0.6% to $2.62 billion for the five weeks and rose 0.2% to $18.85 billion for the 35 weeks. "Kmart's sales performance remains below plan," according to Floyd Hall, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Although overall sales gains did not appear, we saw strength throughout the month in electronics and photography, while above-average performance was produced by soft home, housewares, consumables, cosmetics and pharmacy."
