Target sales slightly better-than-expected

MINNEAPOLIS Target reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 31 were $4.54 billion, an increase of 2.8% from $4.42 billion for the four weeks ended Nov. 1 the year prior. On this same basis, October comparable-store sales decreased 0.1%.

 “Sales for the month of October were slightly better than our expectation,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and CEO of Target. “Consistent with September results, October comparable-store transactions were positive, and comparable-store sales in apparel were slightly stronger than for the company overall. We are entering the holiday season with very clean inventories and we believe we are positioned to perform well in what continues to be a challenging economic environment.”