Carters to Sell Hancock Stores

The Carter family of Camden plans to sell its eight franchised Hancock Fabric stores back to Hancock Fabrics Inc. of Tupelo, Miss.

The stores will continue to operate as before with no change in employment, said Jason Carter, district manager in Fayetteville.

Carter said the sale should be complete by Feb. 1, which is the beginning of Hancock’s next fiscal year. The sale doesn’t include real estate. The Carter family owns seven of the eight buildings involved in the sale (all but the Springdale store).

The sale includes all of Hancock’s stores in Arkansas. They are located in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Fort Smith, Russellville, Hot Springs, Texarkana and El Dorado.

Carter wouldn’t reveal financial details of the sale, and the corporate office didn’t return our telephone call asking about the deal.

Hancock has 433 stores in 42 states. Last year, the company had sales of $443.6 million, up 1.2 percent from $438.3 million the previous year. Net earnings dropped 11.7 percent from $19.7 million in 2002 to $17.4 million in 2003.

Hancock sells fabrics, home decorating products, sewing machines, sewing supplies and “notions,” according to the company’s annual report.