A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, Inc. Q1 2010 Earnings Call Transcript

A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, Inc. (ACMR)

Q1 2010 Earnings Call Transcript

May 6, 2010 08:30 a.m. ET

Executives

David Stern - EVP and CFO

Joe Jeffries - Acting CEO

David Abelman - EVP and Chief Marketing and Merchandizing Officer

Analysts

Michael Corelli - Barry Vogel & Associates

Bill Armstrong - C.L. King & Associates

Joan Storms - Wedbush

Presentation

Operator

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Good day and welcome to the A.C. Moore first quarter 2010 earnings conference call. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. David Stern.

David Stern

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that any forward-looking statements made during this call are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from our current expectations. The risks and uncertainties that are most likely to cause our results to differ materially from our current expectations are referred to in the press release issued this morning as well as in our periodic filings with the SEC.

Now I'll turn the call over to Joe Jeffries, Acting CEO.

Joe Jeffries

Thanks, Dave. This morning, in addition to Dave Stern, I am joined by David Abelman, our Chief Marketing and Merchandizing Officer. I'll begin by commenting on our performance and discuss some operational initiatives in the first quarter. Dave Stern will take you through our financial performance for the quarter. And then David Abelman will touch upon some of our activities in merchandizing and marketing.

For the first quarter 2010, total sales declined 3% from the same period a year earlier and our same-stores sales declined by 4.7%. Our gross margin ended at 43.2%, which is a 30 basis points improvement year-over-year.