CPI Corp Same-Store Holiday Sales Slump 18%

CPI Corp. (CPY) said its same-store holiday sales sank amid weakness in its PictureMe Portrait Studio and Sears Portrait Studio brands.

The company runs about 3,000 portrait photography studios, with most of its locations in Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) stores. PictureMe and Sears Portrait same-store sales dropped 18%, while its Kiddie Kandids operations fell 21%.

CPI said same-store declined 18% to $82.1 million in the first eight weeks of its fourth quarter, though said sales trends have improved in the last three weeks.

Sears last month said it plans to close about 100 stores in a bid to revitalize its business and reduce expenses. The company in December reported same-store sales were down 5.2% so far for the latest quarter, including a 6% sales decline so far at domestic namesake stores.

Last month, CPI said its third-quarter loss narrowed, despite weaker sales, on lower expenses. It also said it received an October notice that it was out of compliance with the New York Stock Exchange's listing standards and said it may have to seek listing elsewhere.

CPI's shares, which sank sharply following the third-quarter report, closed Thursday at $1.53 and were inactive premarket. The stock is down 78% over the past three months.

-By Ben Fox Rubin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3108; [e-mail];