Sport Chalet announces best second quarter in five years

La Cañada Flintridge-based sporting goods retailer Sport Chalet announced Wednesday that its financial results for the quarter that ended in October are the best second-quarter results the company has seen in five years.

During a conference call, Chief Financial Officer Howard Kaminsky said that the chain saw net income of $800,000 in the quarter, compared to $600,000 a year ago, and that comparable store sales increased 5.5% over the same time in the prior year.

“This was our best second quarter in the past five fiscal years,” said Chief Executive and Chairman Craig Levra. “The momentum we experienced during the first quarter continued in the second quarter, and we believe that we are well positioned to have a profitable fiscal 2013.”

Levra said that the increase in sales could be atrributed to the sales team’s work to integrate new business software as well as the company’s shift towards specialty and premium brands.

Sport Chalet had not had a profitable quarter in five years before the first quarter of this year, which ended July.

In the second quarter of 2012, it did see its gross profit decrease by $500,000, or 1.9%.

Levra said that the drop in profit was due primarily to the costs of an August promotional campaign, changes in merchandise costs and ongoing customer satisfaction intiaitives, such as extended training for employees.

-- Daniel Siegal, Times Community News

Twitter: @ValleySunDan