LANDOVER -- Crown Books Corp. said yesterday that it would close 90 to 100 small stores in the next three years and replace them with about 28 big stores it plans to open next year.
The company disclosed the plan in reporting a third-quarter loss of $25 million, or $4.64 a share, after a one-time charge against earnings to account for the store closings. A year ago, the company earned $118,000, or 2 cents a share.
The Landover-based retailer said the charge amounted to $19 million pretax.
It didn't disclose the after-tax charge.
On a pretax basis excluding the one-time charge, Crown earned $111,000 in the quarter that ended Oct. 29, down from pretax earnings of $173,000 a year earlier.
The stores to be closed average 3,000 square feet in size and are among the least efficient in the Crown chain, the company said.
It plans to replace them with 28 "Super Crown" stores with about 12,000 to 18,000 square feet each -- leading to a net addition of about 120,000 square feet of selling space.
The move is in line with moves by other leading book retailers, such as Barnes & Noble Inc. and Books-A-Million Inc., which have shifted resources from small stores to superstores.
Crown also incurred a one-time loss in the quarter when it and Dart Group Corp., which owns 51 percent of Crown, were ordered in September by a federal jury to pay former Dart President Robert Haft $31.6 million for wrongfully firing him. Dart also owns 65 percent of Trak Auto Corp.
Crown's share of the award on a pretax basis was $13.4 million. In addition, it recorded $2.6 million in legal expenses during the protracted battle. Crown and Dart are appealing the verdict.
Crown operates 233 stores, including 70 Super Crown stores. The Super Crown stores accounted for 55 percent of the chain's sales in the quarter.
Crown Books
Corp. *
Landover
.... ... ... ... .. ... .. ..Ticker ... ... ... Yesterday's
.... ... ... ... ... ... ... Symbol ... ... ... Cls. ... Chg.
.... ... ... ... ... ... ... CRWN ... ... ... . 14 3/4 unchg
Period ended
Oct. 29 ... ... ... ... .. 3rd qtr. ... ... ... Year ago ...Chg.
Revenue ... ... ... ... .. $68,374 ... ... ... $60,972 ... +12.1%
Net Income ... ... ... .. ($25,008) ... ... .. $118 .. ... ..--
Primary EPS ... ... ... .. ($4.64) ... ... ... $0.02 .. .. ..--
.... ... ... ... ... ... 9 mos. ... ... ... Year ago ... Chg.
Revenue ... ... ... ... $206,195 ... ... ... $175,642 ...+17.4%
Net Income ... ... ... ($23,984) ... ... ... $1,711 .. .. --
Primary EPS ... ... .. ($4.45) ... ... .... $0.32 .. ... .--
* Dart Group Corp. owns 51 percent of Crown.
Figures in thousands (except per share data)