— Furniture Today,
BASSETT, Va. — Bassett Furniture Inds. said today it lost $2.4 million in its fiscal second quarter ended May 26 as sales declined 14% because of soft retail conditions.

In the same quarter last year, the company had a profit of $2.8 million.


Sales of $75.4 million in this year’s second quarter were down from the $87.7 million last year.

Excluding restructuring, lease exit costs for three stores and a leasehold improvement asset improvement related to downsizing the company’s wholesale showroom, results would have been just about break-even, the company said, which would represent a $2 million improvement over the results for the first quarter of 2014.

“These are truly difficult times for our industry and our results for the second quarter reflect that,” said Rob Spilman Jr., Bassett president and CEO.

“We continue to believe the initiatives we have in place to improve our store, program combined with actions we have and are taking to reduce our cost structure, will make us a better company and coupled with a better overall retail environment should lead to improved operating results. An additional challenge will be repositioning our upholstery fabric line in light of the recent financial difficulties of two of our key suppliers,” Spilman said.

Net sales for Bassett’s wholesale segment were $63.4 million, 16% below the $75.4 million in sales for second quarter 2013.

Approximately 46% of wholesale shipments in the first half were imported products compared with 44% in the first half of 2013, the company said.