LL Flooring, a specialty retailer of hard-surface flooring in the U.S., reported net sales declined 19.7% to $215.8 million for the third quarter, which ended September 30, 2023. The company attributed the decrease to a decline in transaction count reflecting lower spending by consumers and pros. Total comparable store sales decreased 20.5% versus the same period last year.

"We continue to navigate uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment due to low consumer confidence, inflation, an elevated interest and mortgage rate environment and lower existing home sales," said President and Chief Executive Officer Charles Tyson. "Despite external headwinds, we remain confident in our ability to deliver the high-touch service of an independent flooring retailer combined with the value, assortment, and convenience of a national brand."

"We are disappointed in our third quarter results, which continued to be negatively impacted by the macroeconomic environment, as well as internal challenges that we are focused on as we execute against our strategic initiatives. To that end, we remain committed and continue to execute on our brand transformation strategy and our five strategic initiatives, which include: focusing investments on our top growth priorities; growing our brand awareness; enhancing our product offerings by innovating products; ensuring a consistent customer experience across our omnichannel network; and improving operating efficiencies. We believe each initiative will improve sales productivity and profitability long term."

"I believe that we are seeing promising signs that our strategic initiatives are starting to improve our capabilities, and this gives us confidence that we will return to growth as the economic environment improves and, in the long term, regain share in what we believe will be a growing industry that is driven by long-term tailwinds for hard surface flooring and remodels such as aging housing stock, increased household formation, and rising home values."