CPI Corp. Reports Sales Trends for 2011 Holiday Period $82.1M, down 18% YoY

CPI Corp. (NYSE: CPY) today announced fourth quarter-to-date sales comparisons for the first eight weeks of its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter ending February 4, 2012, including holiday season results. Comparable same-store net sales on a point-of-sale (POS) basis for this period, excluding foreign currency translation and the Bella operations, declined 18% to $82.1 million from $100.5 million in the prior-year comparable period. Same-store net sales for the Company's PictureMe Portrait Studio® (PMPS) and Sears Portrait Studio (SPS) brands decreased by 18% compared with the prior year, while same-store net sales for the Kiddie Kandids (KK) studio operations decreased by 21%.

Sales trends have improved in the last three weeks since the Company reported preliminary five-week net sales in its 2011 third quarter earnings release on December 22, 2011. Comparable same-store net sales on a POS basis in the last three weeks declined 10% compared with the prior year, with declines of 11%, 9% and 15% for the Company's PMPS and SPS brands and KK studio operations, respectively.