JC Penney Co. Inc. has reported that catalog and Internet sales have been slow to recover after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Catalog sales are down 30% for the September period compared with a previous forecast of a decline of around 18% or 19%.
The company also reported that sales at stores open at least a year–same-store sales–were “essentially on plan” through last week.
The company, based in Plano, Texas, said it is tracking toward a high single-digit increase in same-store sales helped by a marketing campaign that boosted sales across all of its merchandise divisions, and it has “not experienced a significant delay in the supply chain.” Same-store sales at its Eckerd drug store chain “remain on plan,” with a 3% to 4% increase through September.
“Despite the events of the past two weeks, sales for the month of September have held up reasonably well,” the company said in a statement.
Sales at its catalog and Internet units deteriorated immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks.
