Target February sales comparison rises
Target Corp. said Thursday that February sales in stores open at least one year rose 2.4 percent as more customers came into stores and spent more money than a year ago.
Results beat Target's expectations of a flat to slight rise in the sales figure. Analysts had expected a 1 percent increase.
The discount chain said food and household essentials remained the biggest sellers with furniture and clothing sales about flat with last year.
Stores in the Northeast, Southeast and upper Midwest performed better than stores in the Mid Atlantic and Southern California.
The Minneapolis company offered a combined two-month outlook for sales in stores open at least one year, since Easter will fall in March this year, compared with April next year. For the combined two-month period, Target expects the sales comparison to be up in the low single digits. In March, it expects sales in stores open at least one year to be up in the mid- to upper-single digits. For April, it expects a mid-single digit decline.
Sales at stores open at least a year are a key measure of retailer performance because they measure growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.
Copyright 2010 AP News
