ATLANTA —
March brought mild sales gains and declines to three publicly held furniture retailers, with Havertys up, The Bombay Company down and Pier 1 Imports reporting a little of both.

Atlanta-based full-line retailer Havertys said sales for the month were up 2.3% from March 2012 to $74.2 million, with same-store sales up 0.7%.

“Our March sales trends improved relative to our results in recent months,” said President and CEO Clarence Smith. “Comparable-store sales last year were up 10.8%, setting a high hurdle for this year’s comparisons. We are seeing signals that our merchandise and marketing initiatives are having a positive impact.”

Bombay, based in Fort Worth, Texas, said sales declined 2.1% to $45.4 million in the five weeks ended April 1, with same-store sales off 1.7%.

The specialty retailer said sales trends “improved significantly” in the second half of March, driven by selective promotions of key categories. Furniture outperformed accessories and wall décor, pushing the average ticket up in double digits, although store traffic declined.

Pier 1, also based in Fort Worth, also said the month improved as it wore on. The specialty retailer reported that sales in the five weeks ended April 1 were up 1.3% to $141.8 million, despite a 2% decline in same-store sales. 

“The new modern furniture collections did well during the month and our updated color palettes re-energized the home textiles business,” said Chairman and CEO Marvin Girouard. “Most notable in March were better merchandise margins with a higher percent of regular-priced sales.”