Sharper Image Corp., San Francisco, CA, had total 1998 revenue of $243.1 million, up 12% from 1997’s $216.8 million. Total store sales rose 7% to $162.4 million from $151.6 million last year, with comparable store sales increasing 5%. Catalog sales rose 24% to $79.1 million from last year’s $63.6 million, including an increase of 202% from Internet sales to $4.9 million from last year’s $1.6 million. The earnings for the year were $4.6 million, a 671% improvement over last year’s $593 thousand.
Fourth quarter sales were in line with the company’s overall performance. Total revenue was $110.9 million, 15% higher than the prior year’s $96.1 million. Total store sales increased 11% to $73.5 million from $66.3 million in the prior year, with comparable store sales increasing by 8%. Catalog sales increased 25% to $36.8 million from last year’s $29.4 million, including an increase in Internet sales of 243% to $3.0 million from last year’s $900,000. The net income for the quarter was $9.4 million, a 62% improvement over last year’s $5.8 million.
The quarter and year ended Jan. 31.
“We will be aggressively expanding our Internet presence in 1999. Our sharperimage.com Web site has just been dramatically re-designed to encourage more shopping, and our new Auction site comes on line February 22nd of this month. We will be substantially expanding our partnership advertising this year, which will drive more traffic to our sites,” said founder, chairman, and CEO Richard Thalheimer in a statement.
The Sharper Image is a specialty retailer of new, innovative, high-quality products that make life easier and more enjoyable. The company operates 87 stores throughout the United States and mails millions of catalogs each month. Additionally, the Company’s products may be purchased on-line via its Internet store at sharperimage.com.
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