Target sees monthly comps boost

MINNEAPOLIS Target reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ended Jan. 30 were $4.3 billion, an increase of 3.6% from $4.2 billion last month.

On this same basis, January comparable-store sales increased 0.5%.

“Our January comparable-store sales were in line with our expectations, as lower clearance sales held back our year-over-year growth,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Target. “We experienced strong guest traffic in January, and comparable-store sales in both our apparel and home categories were positive for the month. We believe these trends, combined with very clean inventories, position Target to continue to gain market share profitably in the challenging environment we expect in 2010.”