J. C. Penney Company, Inc. reported that its comparable store sales for the four-week period ended Nov. 27, increased 9.2% over last year. All divisions and regions experienced comparable store sales growth in November with shoes and men's apparel reporting the best results over last year. Geographically, the best performing regions were the central and southwest regions. Total company sales in November increased 7.2%.

The company noted that its holiday season has gotten off to a strong start with the biggest Black Friday sales event in its history, as sales of JCPenney's stylish merchandise and innovative gift assortments for a full range of ages, lifestyles, and budgets drove performance. Top selling items on Black Friday and Cyber Monday included JCPenney's assortment of fashion boots, the St. John's Bay® cashmere-blend pea coat, and Liz Claiborne® sportswear for women, as well as St. John's Bay polos and Stafford® flannel sleep pants for men. Customers also chose to shop for holiday gift items through jcp.com, as traffic and conversion on the company's ecommerce site were well-ahead of last year throughout the holiday weekend.

“Our strong performance shows that the merchandising initiatives our leadership team put in place earlier this year, coupled with our new brands, power private brands, and industry-leading customer service are delivering for us. Customers are responding very well to our gift assortments as well as taking advantage of our great promotions in order to buy for themselves. We are well prepared for the season and look forward to continuing to offer our customers an exciting and affordable shopping experience for the holidays,” said Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, chairman and chief executive officer.

Preliminary November Sales Summary

($ in millions)


 


 


 


 


 


 




Total Company Sales


% Increase/(Decrease)



for period ended


Total Sales


Comp Stores



Nov. 27,


Nov. 28,











2010


2009


2010


2009


2010


2009













 
4 Weeks


$

1,845


$

1,721


7.2


(5.2

)


9.2


(5.9

)













 
43 Weeks


$

13,900


$

13,727


1.3


(5.6

)


2.5


(7.0

)