SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Penn Traffic Co. here said that its merchandising and loyalty card efforts resulted in a same-store sales increase of 0.9% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 ended Feb. 2.
tening economy and a greater-than-normal amount of promotional activity made the fourth quarter a challenging one for us. We were able to achieve solid results, however, primarily because of improvements in the planning and execution of holiday merchandising programs, an increase in private-label sales and the benefits of our cost-reduction programs."
Fisher cited the companywide rollout of its Wild Card loyalty card program as another factor in the company's fourth-quarter sales increase. The fourth quarter was the first full quarter in which the program was available in all Penn Traffic supermarkets.
Net loss for the quarter was $20 million, or $1 per share. For the year, net loss was $95.7 million, or $4.77 per share.
The company also said it will complete 20 new store projects in the coming year. These include the construction of six new stores, expanding an existing store, and remodeling 13 stores.
