Accessories, apparel & shoes drive JC Penny's Dec sales
06 Jan '06
2 min read
Nation's largest catalog merchant JC Penney Company Inc comparable department store sales increased 2.2 percent for the five weeks ended Dec. 31, 2005, while total department store sales increased 3.1 percent.
Comparable store sales were in line with previous guidance for a low-single digit increase, and compare with a sales decline of 1.3 percent in last year's December period.
Comparable sales for the combined November and December holiday period increased 2.7 percent versus an increase of 3.1 percent last year.
Sales were strongest the last two weeks of the period, with the best sales performance in the month coming from women's accessories, children's apparel and family shoes.
Geographically, the best performance continued to be in the west and southeast.
Direct (catalog/Internet) sales increased 4.3 percent during the period, slightly ahead of previous guidance for a low-single digit sales increase.
The December 2005 increase comes on top of a 6.7 percent increase in the December period last year.
Sales for jcpenney.com increased approximately 26 percent in December and nearly 30 percent year-to-date.
January Sales Guidance
For the month of January, the company expects comparable department store sales to increase low-single digits and Direct (catalog/Internet) sales to be about flat.
In last year's January period, comparable department store sales increased 2.5 percent and Direct sales increased 12.6 percent.
marketing@alchempro.com
