Retailer and cataloger The Right Start Inc. made $1 million in direct sales for its fiscal third quarter, the company said yesterday.
Net sales, including retail sales, were $58.6 million for the Calabasas, CA, company's third quarter, which ended Nov. 3.
However, the company, which operates The Right Start catalog and the retail Web site Rightstart.com, reported an operating loss for the quarter of $7.7 million, attributed to costs from the recent closing of 15 stores and costs associated with the ongoing integration with the newly acquired Zany Brainy subsidiary.
The company said it expected to have a profitable fourth quarter with increased sales during the holiday buying season.
“With the acquisition of Zany Brainy, our results have been more dependent on the fourth quarter, when toy retailers typically make all their profit,” said Jerry R. Welsh, CEO of The Right Start. “The fourth-quarter results so far are very solid, and we are quite satisfied with our trend.”
The Right Start is a specialty retailer of educational products, toys, games, books and multimedia products for children. The company is buying toy retailer FAO Schwarz in a deal expected to be complete in January.
