Retailer J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Plano, TX, reported that catalog sales for the five weeks ended Sept. 30, decreased 2.9% from the prior year period. The catalog results include jcpenney.com.
Sales of jcpenney.com continue to grow rapidly and were $25 million in September, and $137 million for the year to date. This compares with $7 million and $26 million in last year’s respective periods. J.C. Penney Direct Marketing Services Inc. sales for the September period were $93 million, the same as last year’s September period.
These results were released as the company warned that weak retail sales and poor results at its Eckerd drugstores will cause it to miss analysts’ lowered profit expectations and may result in a third-quarter loss.
