Regis Corp., blamed the weather and a late Easter season for less-than-stellar third-quarter sales. The Edina-based hair care giant reported Friday that same-store sales declined 2.3 percent and revenue dropped 1.1 percent compared with the same period last year.
Regis President Randy Pearce described sales as "choppy."
"Customer visitation trends in the month of January were adversely impacted by cold weather and snow," he said in a statement, adding that the late-April Easter shifted holiday traffic from late March to early April, affecting third-quarter same-store sales by 0.3 percentage point.
"We expect our fourth quarter will benefit by the same amount," he said.
Erica Mashmeyer of Robert W. Baird said in a report that results were near her expectations but below analysts' consensus. She noted that while traffic was down by 4.2 percent, customers were spending 1.6 percent more at stores due to increases in prices and a more favorable sales mix of services and products.
Same-store sales continue to improve on a two-year basis, she noted.
Regis reported revenue of $581 million compared with $588 million a year ago in the three months ended March 31.
The company will report earnings April 27.
