Macy's Sustains Sales Growth

Cincinnati-based Macy's Inc. reports total sales of $2.358 billion for the five weeks ended March 31, 2012, an increase of 6.9 percent. On a same-store basis, Macy's sales grew 7.3 percent in March.

For the year to date, Macy's sales are up 6.3 percent to $4.218 billion, while same-store sales increased 6.1 percent. Online sales in 2012 (which includes macys.com and bloomingdales.com and are included in the same-store sales calculations) improved 39 percent in March and 35.6 percent year-to-date.

“March sales exceeded our expectations beyond the benefits we anticipated from an earlier Easter and a shift in a cosmetics event from April last year to March this year,” says Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and ceo, Macy's Inc.

Based on strong March results, the company expects same-store sales growth in its combined March-April period to be up by 4.3 percent to 4.5 percent.