Sales In Stores

Giant Food Inc., the dominant supermarket chain in the region, reported yesterday that its third-quarter earnings dropped 6.2 percent as increased costs more than offset a gain in sales.The Landover-based chain of 164 supermarkets generated $870.6 million in sales for the 12 weeks ended Nov. 4, up 4.3 percent from $834.8 million over the same period last year. Sales in stores open at least a year, a key gauge of performance because it factors out new stores, increased 2.4 percent.Net income fell from $18.5 million to $17.4 million as earnings per share dropped 1 cent over the comparable quarter to 30 cents.

Signaling more uncertainty at Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc., the Joppa-based fashion retailer is behind in payments for its spring merchandise, and Fidelity Investments, the company's largest creditor, has been meeting with the retailer lately to discuss their options, according to sources.In addition, New York and California retailers have expressed an interest in buying a piece of the business and the Merry-Go-Round board of directors is expected to meet tomorrow -- the last day of a standstill before the company is to submit a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. continued to close the gap to profitability, reporting yesterday $200,000 in fourth-quarter operating losses in menswear -- its smallest loss in the year.And in case Bank needs more breathing room, the retailer has obtained a $40 million loan extension from its bankers through April 1999.But they may not need that time. In a sign of optimism, Bank is still pursuing the acquisition of another retailer. "We're actively looking at five or six opportunities right now," said Bank Chairman Timothy F. Finley.

It's the rumor that won't go away.Breaking its silence, Hechinger Co. yesterday flatly denied the tTC often-repeated speculation of a takeover by Sears, Roebuck and Co.The latest stirrings of a Hechinger-Sears deal arose from a report yesterday by CNBC correspondent Dan Dorfman, who did not cite any sources but said that Sears is apparently on a "hardware kick."The report generated an immediate reaction on Wall Street.The stock of the Landover-based home improvement chain swung wildly throughout the day, opening at $3.56 and shooting up to $5.63 before settling at $4.75, up $1.19.

After absorbing $77.6 million in losses during fiscal 1995, Landover-based Hechinger Co. reported yesterday another quarter in the red -- a net loss of $6 million, or 14 cents per share, for the first quarter of 1996. Over the same quarter last year, Hechinger earned $1.2 million, or 3 cents a share.If not for a cold March, the retailer said it would have been marginally profitable for the quarter, which ended May 4."For us, weather is a key driver," said Hechinger Executive Vice President W. Clark McClelland.

Giant Food Inc. reported yesterday a 16.6 percent increase in first-quarter net income.The Landover-based supermarket chain said it earned $25.78 million, or 43 cents per share, compared with $22.1 million, or 37 cents per share, over the same period last year."

Hechinger Co. reported yesterday a sixth consecutive month of faltering sales, triggering a plunge in the home improvement chain's stock to its lowest level of trading in at least 12 years.September sales at the Landover-based retailer dropped 13 percent to $219.1 million, compared with $251.5 million over the same period last year. Sales in stores open at least a year, a crucial gauge of performance because it factors out new stores, fell 13 percent."There's such a high level of concern about Hechinger's future that investors don't want to own shares," said analyst Kenneth M. Gassman Jr. of the Richmond, Va., investment house Davenport & Co.Hechinger Class A shares closed yesterday at $3.75, down 25 cents, after trading as low as $3.375.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., the Hampstead suit and sportcoat seller that issued public stock last month, said yesterday that new stores helped boost operating earnings in its latest quarter but that revenue growth in older stores was sluggish.Sales in stores open for at least a year, considered a key measure of retail success, increased by just 2 percent during the three months ended April 30, Bank said. That was a marked slowdown from the healthy, 7.4 percent same-store sales growth for the fiscal year ending Jan. 29.Bank officials blamed reluctant consumers and bad weather in the Northeast.

Store start-up expenses caused Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. to lose $345,000 on $35.2 million in revenue for its first quarter as a public company, a result that was expected by Wall Street analysts.Without the costs to open stores in Milwaukee, Greenville, S.C., Wichita, Kan., and several other cities, the Hampstead-based apparel seller would have made a "minimal" profit, said Chairman Timothy F.Finley.The loss, which amounted to 5 cents a share, came for the three months that ended July 30, normally a less-important selling period for Bank.

Bell Atlantic makes Czech bidBell Atlantic Corp. said yesterday that it and France Telecom have incorporated a new joint venture company named Telfar, which has submitted a bid for a 27 percent share of SPT Telecom, a telecommunications operator serving the Czech Republic. The value of the stake has been estimated at $500 million to $1 billion, of which Bell Atlantic would own a 55 percent stake.If successful, the Czech venture would join several other overseas investments by the Philadelphia-based telephone company, including ownership stakes in a Mexican cellular carrier and New Zealand's national phone service provider.