Discount store chain Fred's Inc. (FRED), Thursday reported an increase in December comparable sales helped by higher customer traffic, continued pharmacy department script growth and better clearance of seasonal inventory.
Fred's total sales for December increased 4% to $209.3 million from $201.4 million in the prior-year period. Comparable store sales were up 1.3%, compared to a flat comparable store sales in the same period last year.
Year-to-date, total sales decreased 1% to $1.663 billion from $1.673 billion in the year-earlier period. However, excluding closed stores, total sales from ongoing stores increased 1% in the 2009 year-to-date period versus the same period last year. On a comparable store basis, sales increased 0.5%. In the prior year period, the increase was 2.2%.
Commenting on the December sales, Bruce Efird, Chief Executive Officer said,"We successfully executed our expanded layaway program, experiencing an increase of approximately 320% over last year and meeting our expectations for the program. This progress, combined with better merchandise planning, allowed us to reduce our per-store inventory at the end of December 7% from the year-earlier level."
FRED is currently trading at $10.24, down $0.05 or 0.49%, on a volume of 0.15 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.