Citi Trends Extends Comparable-Sales Growth Streak
Preliminary second-quarter sales rose 10.9% to $211.6 million.
Citi Trends Inc. (CTRN), the value retailer of apparel, accessories and home goods, extended its comparable-store sales growth streak to eight quarters as second-quarter comparable sales rose 10.5%.
Growth moderated from the first quarter, when comparable-store sales increased 13.9%. The two-year comparable-sales stack slowed to 19.7% from 23.8%, though it remained above the 15.3% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Preliminary second-quarter sales increased 10.9% from a year earlier, compared with 14.4% growth in the first quarter. Sales declined $19.3 million, or 8.4%, sequentially from the first quarter's $230.9 million.
Sales rose across every merchandise category during the quarter. Both transactions and average basket increased in each month, extending the traffic and basket gains that had driven first-quarter growth.
The quarter finished ahead of the high-single-digit comparable-sales pace Citi Trends had reported earlier in the period. The two-year stack also reached 19.7%, compared with the previously reported upper-teens pace.
For the year to date, preliminary sales increased 12.7% to $442.5 million, while comparable-store sales rose 12.2% on a 21.8% two-year stack.
Citi Trends operated 594 stores at the time of the second-quarter preannouncement, up from 591 at the first-quarter preliminary update, adding locations as comparable sales continued to grow.