brombonz

Fred's Could Be 50% Undervalued Compared to Peers

Fred's real peers are the Alco stores of DUCK and the Pamida stores once owned by Shopko, as well as Wal*Mart and perhaps the "dollar" stores you mention.

Retail Bright Spots This Holiday Season

Oh, and my question was how do you explain the phrase "continue to profit."
Explaining the word "profit" is a snap. But, after all, isn't it what remains after deducting expenses, including those resulting from bad decisions and/or poor execution?


On Dec 03 10:07 AM brombonz wrote:

> I'm aware of the Texas situation. It has not been the only problem.
> I've followed the company since its IPO. It would be correct to say
> it is positioned properly to benefit from economic bad times. It
> is another thing to say management can turn that into profit, and
> increasing profit at that. I don't know that they have overcome their
> warehouse/distribution problems. I lived in L.A. for 35 years and
> am quite familiar with the stores. I last shopped there in the summer
> of 2006 while vacationing from my current home in Florida. I've been
> a shareowner at various times, as recently as earlier this year.
> Since I liked the stores (all the locations I've been familiar with,
> have been jammed with shoppers), the great appeal to me had been
> the exceedingly small store base compared with DLTR, FDO and the
> former DG, and the potential for national expansion. The failure
> in TX has lessened, if not eliminated, that appeal. It remains to
> be seen if management can transcend its previous shortcomings and
> turn steady, possibly growing, revenues into profit.

Retail Bright Spots This Holiday Season

I'm aware of the Texas situation. It has not been the only problem. I've followed the company since its IPO. It would be correct to say it is positioned properly to benefit from economic bad times. It is another thing to say management can turn that into profit, and increasing profit at that. I don't know that they have overcome their warehouse/distribution problems. I lived in L.A. for 35 years and am quite familiar with the stores. I last shopped there in the summer of 2006 while vacationing from my current home in Florida. I've been a shareowner at various times, as recently as earlier this year. Since I liked the stores (all the locations I've been familiar with, have been jammed with shoppers), the great appeal to me had been the exceedingly small store base compared with DLTR, FDO and the former DG, and the potential for national expansion. The failure in TX has lessened, if not eliminated, that appeal. It remains to be seen if management can transcend its previous shortcomings and turn steady, possibly growing, revenues into profit.


On Nov 30 06:38 PM Mark Riddix wrote:

> By profit, I mean that I am expecting them to benefit from this recessionary
> environment. The 99 cents has seen an increase in comps, increasing
> revenue and has virtually no long term debt. The company's earnings
> were good except in Texas. The 99 cents store is closing all of its
> Texas locations because they are unprofitable. They incurred charges
> relating to the closing of the Texas locations(leasehold fees, impairment
> charges). Gross profit margins outside of Texas were 39.2% Comps
> rose almost 5% and retail sales rose 9%.

Retail Bright Spots This Holiday Season

Correction: Data in the previous post did originate with Morningstar, but via MarketWatch.com, not Yahoo! Finance.

Retail Bright Spots This Holiday Season

"99 Cents Store (NDN) ....will continue to profit as consumers downsize."

In the last three quarters, NDN has cumulative losses of $21.4 million before tax credits: $12.6 million in the Sept. quarter and $.7 million and $8.1 million in the two preceding quarters. After tax adjustments that works out to cumulative losses of $15.3 million (by quarter $9.4 million, $1.5 million and $4.4 million.(Data from Morningstar via Yahoo! Finance)

In what sense do you employ the phrase "continue to profit?"