Stater Bros. Holdings will hold off on opening new stores until the economy improves, but the company is digging its heels into existing markets by remodeling or rebuilding some stores and sacrificing profits to keep prices in check.
In a conference call Wednesday with investors and analysts, leaders of the San Bernardino-based grocery chain announced net income of $6 million for the third quarter that ended June 27. That's down 60 percent from $15.1 million for the same period last year.
Sales for the quarter declined by only 3.1 percent, to $900 million in fiscal 2010.
For the fiscal year to date, earnings were $18.7 million, down 37 percent from $29.8 million last year. Sales for the first three quarters were down 3.9 percent to $2.71 billion. The company attributed $72.6 million of the $109.4 million decline to the sale of its Santee Dairies business to Dean Foods last fall.
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