Bon-Ton June same-store sales fall 6.5 percent

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

The shortfall was more significant than Wall Street was expecting. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected same-store sales to fall 5 percent, on average.

The company said that continued weakness in the overall economy brought down sales overall in June, driven by declines in home, dresses and men's apparel. Children's, special size sportswear and cosmetics segments performed the best, Bon-Ton said.

Total sales for the period fell 6.6 percent to $261.2 million from $279.6 million for the year-ago period.

So far this year, same-store sales are down 6 percent. Total year-to-date sales fell 6.1 percent to $1.18 billion.