The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Aug. 8, edition that Leon's Furniture said Friday that rising fuel costs are putting the pinch on profit margins. The Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes that chief executive officer Mike Walsh said: "We definitely do not want to raise prices across the board. But we will be strategic in nature where we can." Affordability remains a challenge, he added, especially in big-ticket discretionary purchases such as furniture. "We've seen that the customers are still shopping, they're still buying -- but they truly want value, and so your marketing has to scream value to the consumer to attract them into your stores," he said. Leon's reported a slight decrease in second quarter revenues, to $631.2-million in the quarter ended June 30, down 2 per cent compared with the same period last year. That fell slightly below analysts' expectations of $635.9-million in revenue. Leon's second quarter net income grew to $35-million or 51 cents a share, compared with $31.8-million or 47 cents a share in the same period last year. However, the earnings were affected by a gain on financial derivative instruments in the quarter, compared with a loss in the prior year.