Kohl’s Corporation reported a 12.0% rise in sales for the four-week period ended May 3, 2008 and said comp store sales rose 3.5% during the period, but nearly all the improvement was due to a shift in the calendar.


After combining the department store's resuts for March and April,  total sales increased just 0.4%, while comparable store sales decreased 7.7%.

 

For the quarter ended May 3, 2008, meanwhile, total sales increased 1.5% and comparable store sales decreased 6.7%.

“We were encouraged by the improvement in our sales performance in April as business in seasonal categories improved,” said Larry Montgomery, Kohl’s Chairman and CEO. “We will be conservative in our inventory planning and expense management as we continue to expect our customers to be cautious in their spending.”


Still, the company said thanks to the strong rebound in April, Kohl's now expects earnings to exceed its previous guidance of $0.40 to $0.42 per diluted share.





















































































  Sales Summary
($ in millions)
Fiscal Period Ended     % Change This Year
May 3,   May 5, All   Comp
2008 2007 Stores Stores
 
April $ 1,227.0 $ 1,095.1 12.0% 3.5%
March/April $ 2,652.7 $ 2,642.7 0.4% -7.7%
YTD $ 3,624.3 $ 3,572.0 1.5% -6.7%



On May 3, 2008, the Company operated 957 stores in 47 states, compared to 834 in 46 states at the same time last year.