Sears Hometown dips in Q1

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores net sales dipped 1.9% to $589.9 million for the 13-week period ended May 3.

Net income also failed to impress, dropping from approximately $15.0 million in 2013 to $3.68 million in 2014.

Like many others this quarter, president and CEO Bruce Johnson attributed the weak performance to the weather, as well as insufficient stock of high-margin appliances and a competitive retail market that was aggressively promotional.

"While these three items significantly affected the first quarter, we expect their balance-of-year impact to diminish," said Johnson. "In particular, we do not expect that weather will play a major role during the remainder of the fiscal year with respect to seasonal lawn and garden as this product category shrinks as a percentage of our total sales after June, and we saw more moderate weather in May."

Johnson added that the company's sourcing initiatives are well underway, and the addition of more high-margin merchandise is likely to help boost sales.