"As we look to the second half of the year, we are focused on continuing to differentiate JCPenney from the competition by inspiring our customers with our merchandise and improving our store base through additional new store openings and existing store renovations."
"In addition, we are making further progress in our cycle time and merchandise flow initiatives, to ensure we have what our customers want every time they shop with us. These are all key elements of bringing our Every Day Matters brand positioning to life, and our progress in achieving them so far this year gives us confidence that we are on track to achieve both our long-range financial targets and our goal of becoming the growth leader in our industry."
Operating Performance: Second quarter operating income was $329 million, a 17.5 percent increase from last year's $280 million. Total Company sales increased 3.6 percent and comparable store sales increased 1.9 percent. The Company opened 15 new and relocated stores in the second quarter.
The strongest merchandise results were in children's and women's apparel, with the best performances in the northwestern and southwestern regions of the country. Internet sales through www.jcp.com increased 17.4 percent and followed a 24.5 percent increase last year. Total Direct sales, which include jcp.com, print and outlet stores, decreased 2.3 percent for the period as a result of declines in the print business.
Gross margin increased by 80 basis points to 38.1 percent of sales and reflected continued benefits from the Company's improved planning and allocation technology and processes, and early benefits from initiatives such as cycle time reduction and more effective merchandise flow.
marketing@alchempro.com
