For the Third Quarter: • Net sales increased 18.6% to $1,342.2 million from $1,131.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2016. The Company estimates that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma resulted in approximately $14 million in lost sales; • Comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 10.3% compared to an increase of 16.7% in the third quarter of fiscal 2016. The 10.3% comparable sales increase was driven by 6.0% transaction growth and 4.3% growth in average ticket. The Company estimates that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma resulted in approximately 100 basis points of negative impact to comparable stores sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017; • Retail comparable sales increased 6.6%, including salon comparable sales growth of 3.8%; • Salon sales increased 10.8% to $66.9 million from $60.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2016; Click Read More below for additional information.

Member companies of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Internet Archive (“IA”) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit asks the Court to enjoin IA’s mass scanning, public display, and distribution of entire literary works, which it offers to the public at large through global-facing businesses coined “Open Library” and “National Emergency Library,” accessible at both openlibrary.org and archive.org. IA has brazenly reproduced some 1.3 million bootleg scans of print books, including recent works, commercial fiction and non-fiction, thrillers, and children’s books. The plaintiffs—Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House—publish many of the world’s preeminent authors, including winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Newbery Medal, Man Booker Prize, Caldecott Medal and Nobel Prize. Despite the self-serving library branding of its operations, IA’s conduct bears little resemblance to the trusted role that thousands of American libraries play within their communities and as participants in the lawful copyright marketplace. IA scans books from cover to cover, posts complete digital files to its website, and solicits users to access them for free by signing up for Internet Archive Accounts.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has decided to temporarily suspend a planned reduction in service level standards for First Class package delivery until after the peak holiday season, a week after the Postal Regulatory Commission which oversees it said the plan “lacked demonstrable evidence.” The proposed changes called for adding 1-2 days to the service level standard for about 31.2% of First Class package volume, while shorting it by about a day for approximately 4.8% percent of the volume, according to the PRC. “In light of the ongoing environment caused by COVID-19 and the rise of the Delta variant affecting our customers, the implementation date for the revised service standards for First-Class Package Service will be announced after the holiday shipping season” the USPS said in a statement.