Stater Brothers Profits Increase:

Glad Staters got over a million from the city, in direct support and waived development fees from a cash strapped city that is taking extra monies from a cash strapped state to fund RDA Projects.

Stater Bros. upbeat Grocery chain makes $5.9M in 4th quarter
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/16/2010 07:04:36 PM PST

Profits at Stater Bros. Holdings dropped over the course of the chain's most recent fiscal year, but a fourth quarter increase may signal better times ahead for the grocery business and Inland Empire, company chairman Jack Brown said.
"We're hopeful that the economy is turning around," Brown said Thursday morning. "There are some housing starts out there. There are 50 homes being built up at Cal State, so people are going back to work."
Brown referred to the Pinnacles at University Hills project, which Seal Beach-based J.R. Watson and Associates is developing for future construction atop a hill near Cal State San Bernardino.
In terms of Stater Bros.' performance, the company reported $24.6 million in profits for the fiscal year ending Sept. 26. That amount signified a decline of about 29 percent from the previous year's figure of $34.8 million.
During the fourth quarter, however, Stater Bros. recorded a $5.9 million profit, which was higher than the $5 million earned during the same three-month period in 2009.
The better numbers came in part from new computer systems that improved managers' ability to track shrinkage, Brown said.
"None of the improvements came from pricing," he said.
Stater Bros. experienced an overall decline in sales during the past fiscal year, but most of that decrease was not the result of reduced business at the company's 167 supermarkets.
The company reported year-over-year sales
dropped by about $159 million, although all but $66 million of that decrease resulted from its sale of Industry-based Santee Dairies.
In terms of Stater Bros. customers, Brown said shoppers are still filling their carts in the same ways they learned to do in the depths of the recession. That means budget meals and store brands.
"Most people are still holding on to the hamburger," he said. "It will probably be summer before you see families starting to move up again." andrew.edwards@inlandnewspapers.com 909-483-8550 Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/business/ci_16879103#ixzz18Ns2bu4f