merchandise inventory

"We achieved these results through more effective control of merchandise inventories and operating expenses."

Over all, general merchandise inventories rose 2.2 percent.

Most of the lease buyers agreed to take over existing merchandise inventories, but their values could not be determined.

Despite yearlong efforts to keep merchandise inventories in check, stocks will be higher this year to reflect price increases.

Now, with merchandise inventories quite full, retailers will have to stage promotions and mark down merchandise.

The company ended the quarter with merchandise inventories of $1.3 billion, down by 12.3 percent from $1.5 billion a year earlier.

"This reflected two considerations - a dramatic reduction in merchandise inventories and the sharp drop in their stock prices," the analyst said.

Egghead attributed the write-downs primarily to adjustments to merchandise inventory, accounts receivable and fixed assets.

There are fundamental differences for accounting and reporting merchandise inventory transactions under the periodic and perpetual inventory systems.

To record sales, the perpetual system requires an extra entry to debit the Cost of goods sold and credit Merchandise Inventory.

To record purchases, the periodic system debits the Purchases account while the perpetual system debits the Merchandise Inventory account.

A spokeswoman for K Mart, based in Troy, Mich., said business was "in line with last year," and that merchandise inventories were in "better shape," a positive factor.

"At that time the fall-season business had not come up to expectations and merchandise inventories were quite full, leading us to believe that retailers would have to stage promotions and mark down merchandise."

The company said the year-earlier fourth quarter net amounted to $1,102,000, or 18 cents a share, pro forma, assuming retroactive application of a new method of accounting for the cost of merchandise inventory.

Yet Ferd Lawson, chairman of Frederick Atkins Inc., the New York buying office owned by 26 large and medium-size retail chains, said: "Most retailers I have talked to in the last few days have their merchandise inventories under control.

Not only is Cash America's network of more than 150 pawnshops in eight states the largest in the industry, but it is also one of the most sophisticated pawn operators, having recently installed a new computer system to track merchandise inventory levels and borrowers' repayment histories.