J. C. Penney Company, Inc. comparable store sales for the five-week period ended Oct. 3, 2009, decreased 1.4%, better than the company’s guidance for sales to decrease 3% to 6%. In last year’s September period, comparable store sales decreased 12.4%. Total Company sales in September decreased 0.6%.
Women’s apparel was again a top performing merchandise division in September, along with shoes and children’s apparel, while fine jewelry continued to experience weaker sales. The southwest region was the best performing region in September with positive low single-digit comparable store sales. The northwest region had the softest sales during the month.
The Company completed its 2009 new store expansion program during the September period with the opening of three new stores. The Company also opened 12 Sephora inside JCPenney locations, bringing the total number of SiJCP locations to 155.
Management’s guidance for the four-week period ending Oct. 31, 2009, is for a 5% to 8% decrease in comparable store sales, compared to a 13.0% decrease in last year’s October period. Based on better than expected gross margin improvement during the first two months of the quarter, management now expects to report third quarter earnings of three cents to 10 cents per share compared to previous guidance for earnings to be in the range of a loss of five cents to earnings of five cents per share.
