Weis Markets Hits Company-High Net Sales in '21
Most of the arrows pointed up for Weis Markets, Inc., during its last quarter and recently-wrapped fiscal year. According to the Pennsylvania-based grocer’s latest financial report, net sales rose 8% during the fourth quarter and edged up 2.7% for the 52-week period ending Dec. 25, 2021.
Indeed, one might say that Christmas Day was a fitting date to end the fiscal year, since net sales for that time frame reached a company high of $4.2 billion. In addition to that gift of good news, Weis reports that its comparable store sales for fiscal year 2021 increased 1.7% on a year-over-year basis and 18.1% on a two-year stacked basis, the common yardstick for the pre-pandemic operating environment.
While those higher dollar sales came during an inflationary period, there are other positive numbers for Weis Markets for the quarter and year. The retailer’s net income rose to $22.6 million during the fourth quarter, compared to the fourth-quarter mark of $19.4 million in 2020. Fourth quarter earnings per share were higher as well.
On the downside, Weis’s net income declined 8.5% during the most recent fiscal year, totaling $108.8 million. Still, that net income was the second highest in company history, short only to the 2020 pandemic high of $118.9 million.
At a time of mostly favorable growth, the grocer spent much of 2021 building for its future, reinvesting more than $150 million in new and relocated stores and fuel centers. In addition, the company executed more than a thousand retail store improvement projects aimed at increasing efficiencies and improving shopper experiences.
"We are proud and grateful for the contributions of our resilient team of associates who adapted to the challenges of supply chain disruptions, a tight labor market and inflationary pressures," said Jonathan H. Weis, chairman, president and CEO. "As a retailer that benefited from our customers' increased food-at-home consumption because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we note that the last two fiscal years of net sales and income from operations were the first or second highest in our company's 110-year history. The working capital from this positive momentum positions us well for the future to execute our long-term strategy to prudently reinvest for profitable growth.”
Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets operates 197 stores in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and West Virginia. The company is No. 60 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
