Target Corporation Reports October Sales Results

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov 05, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) today reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ended October 31, 2009 were $4,541 million, an increase of 2.8 percent from $4,415 million for the four weeks ended November 1, 2008. On this same basis, October comparable-store sales decreased 0.1 percent.

"Sales for the month of October were slightly better than our expectation," said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Target Corporation. "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." Sales Total Sales Comparable Stores % Change (millions) % Change This Year Last Year October $4,541 2.8 (0.1 ) (4.8 ) Quarter-to-date $14,789 1.4 (1.6 ) (3.3 ) Year-to-date $43,717 (0.3 ) (3.9 ) (1.5 ) Target's current sales disclosure practice includes a sales recording on the day of the monthly sales release. Consistent with this practice, a new message was recorded earlier today. The next sales recording is expected to be issued on Thursday, December 3, 2009. These recordings may be accessed by calling 612-761-6500.

Target Corporation's retail segment includes large general merchandise and food discount stores and Target.com, a fully integrated on-line business. In addition, the company operates a credit card segment that offers branded proprietary and Visa credit card products. The company currently operates 1,743 Target stores in 49 states.

Target Corporation news releases are available at www.target.com.

SOURCE: Target Corporation CONTACT: Target Corporation Investors: John Hulbert, 612-761-6627 or Financial Media: Eric Hausman, 612-761-2054 Copyright Business Wire 2009 -0- KEYWORD: United States

North America

Minnesota INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Department Stores

Discount/Variety

Retail SUBJECT CODE: Sales