Kohls Corporation announced that total sales for the five-week month ended April 3, 2010 increased 26.4% over the five-week month ended April 4, 2009. On a comparable store basis, sales increased 22.5%.
Kevin Mansell, Kohls chairman, president and chief executive officer, commented, Our March sales results reflect continued consistency as all lines of business and all regions achieved strong positive double-digit comparable store sales increases. Increasing customer traffic remains the driver of our sales performance as we continue to focus on gaining market share.
From a regional perspective, the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and West regions led the company. Footwear, Home and Childrens reported the strongest comparable store sales increases.
As a result of its quarter-to-date performance and the assumption of a low double-digit percent decrease in Aprils comparable store sales (due to the timing of Easter and our Grand Opening events), the Company is raising its first quarter earnings per share guidance from $0.48 to $0.52 per diluted share to $0.55 to $0.57 per diluted share.
