Macy’s October same-store sales up 4.1 percent

Macy’s reported total sales of 1.908 billion dollars for

the four weeks ended October 27, 2012, an increase of 3.6 percent compared with total sales of 1.842 billion dollars in the four weeks ended October 29, 2011. On a same-store basis, Macy’s sales were up 4.1 percent in October as compared to October 2011.

“Business was strong in October, and we delivered a solid performance in the third quarter,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Macy’s, Inc. “The key growth strategies we put in place three years ago continue to provide us new opportunities for continuous improvement in driving sales. We are feeling confident about our prospects for the upcoming holiday season and have increased our sales guidance for the fall season, despite the interruption caused by Hurricane Sandy in the first few days of the fourth quarter,” Lundgren adds.

More than 200 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores were closed for some period of time as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The company is confident that it can make up some or most of the lost sales through the remainder of the quarter. Given strong third quarter sales performance, Macy’s is raising its guidance for same-store sales growth in the second half of 2012 to approximately 4 percent (an increase from previous guidance of up approximately 3.7 percent). This calculates to guidance for same-store sales in the fourth quarter to grow by approximately 4.2 percent.

For the third quarter of 2012, the company’s total sales were 6.076 billion dollars, an increase of 3.8 percent compared with total sales of 5.853 billion dollars in the same 13-week period last year. On a same-store basis, Macy’s third-quarter sales were up 3.7 percent.

Macy’s with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2011 sales of 26.4 billion dollars. The company operates about 840 department stores in 45 states and 11 Bloomingdale’s outlets.