LL Flooring Sales Declined 7.5% in Q4, $15.1M Loss Posted

Roanoke, VA, March 1, 2023-LL Flooring, formerly Lumber Liquidators, has announced net sales of $263.9 million for Q4 2022, a 7.5% decline compared to Q4 2021’s $285.3 million. Total comparable store sales decreased 9.5% versus the same period last year.

For Q4, the company reported a $15.1 million loss, compared to earnings of $10.3 million in the same period last year.

During the fourth quarter, the company opened three new stores, bringing total stores to 442 as of December 31, 2022.

For fiscal year 2022, the compared reported sales of $1.11 billion a 3.6% decline compared to sales of $1.15 billion in the prior year period. Total comparable store sales decreased 5.8% versus last year.

For fiscal year 2022, the company reported a loss of $12.1 million, compared to earnings of $41.7 million in fiscal year 2021.

"2022 was a challenging year for LL Flooring. We are disappointed that we did not deliver on the net sales and profitability growth that we expected. To that end, we reported comparable store sales down 5.8% as double-digit growth in sales to Pro customers was more than offset by a decrease in sales to consumers. This was combined with an operating loss due to continued material and transportation cost headwinds impacting gross margin, and a higher cost structure reflecting the investments made in our strategic growth initiatives that we expect will generate strong returns over the longer term," said president and chief executive officer Charles Tyson.

"In 2023, we plan to further broaden and grow our brand awareness among consumers to drive traffic, and deliver an improved customer experience across our omnichannel network to drive conversion. In addition, we are looking to improve operating efficiencies and are actively working to right-size our cost structure."