Financial Report

The first quarter of Fiscal Year 2005 (July through September) had Sales of $6,961,621. This is right on target - only 0.9% over our budget.

Our Gross Margin for the second quarter was 35.8%. That means that, on average, for every dollar we make in sales we pay our suppliers 64.2 cents. From this remaining 35.8 cents, we pay all other expenses of running the business. This is historically one of our lower margin quarters, and while 35.8% is lower than the previous quarter's margin, it is certainly a respectable showing.

Our Payroll expense was 24.8%, or $1,725,957. Discounts to members were 1.1%. OK, are you following along with your pocket calculator? We've got 35.8 cents minus 24.8 cents minus 1.1 cent which leaves 9.9 cents from every dollar in sales to pay for all other expenses. These expenses are Building, Operating, Administrative, Governance, and Promotions. After all that, we ended the quarter with 3.4% profit or $236,461.

That's enough information about that old quarter, let's review the holidays! Usually, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the busiest sales day of the year for grocery stores. This year was an exception for us: Sales on Wed Nov 24 were lower than the previous year, and topped out at $110,742. Apparently, our customers are smarter than your average grocery store habitue and they spread their shopping out over Sunday, Monday and Tuesday very effectively. In a surprise finish, the 23rd of December rang up an astonishing $114,714, almost $17,000 higher than last year and leaving poor "Day Before Thanksgiving" in the dust. I must point out, however, that on Thursday December 23rd we had 2,838 customers but on Wednesday November 24th we had 3,125! Wow.